An unexpected Twist
by Tiamatnerwen
Summary: Tsukushi went to New York with all her hopes put in regain her boyfriend, Doumyouji, but he rejected her and broke her heart one more time and it's Rui once again the one that's there to console her...What will happen between the two of them when they hastily decide to go to Hawaii? Adult content (Based only on the manga)
1. Should we go back to Japan? Or

**Well, this is my second intent of a fic of one of the mangas I loved the most: Hana Yori Dango. I really enjoyed the story and the Dorama but until now I can't help to think that Rui and Tsukushi deserved to be together. So, this is the first chapter of my version of the story…I hope you enjoy it! Review if you do! Thank you very much for reading!**

**(Also, this is based on the manga, not the doramas…)**

**-*-*Flashback 1*-*-**

—If you're the girlfriend of one of my best friends, then you and I can be friends forever.

—Hanazawa Rui, did you know that I liked you?

—Of course. You're going to be late for class.

**-*-*Flashback 2-*-***

—What did you come here for?

—Huh? What do you mean… I came to get you, of cou-

—I'm not going back. (…) This has nothing to do with the old witch. That's what I've decided. I'm staying here. Dropping out of school was also of my own free will. Go home.

**-*-*Flashback 3-*-***

—I came here with everyone's support, so full of myself. Oh, what about you Hanazawa Rui? Why did you come? It really is a surprise.

—I came because I was worried about you. I was worried that you might be off crying somewhere.

**-*-*Flashback 4-*-***

—Ha…Hanazawa Rui…Um…just now…

—The kiss? I just suddenly felt like doing it.

—You—you felt like it?

—Yeah, is that a problem?

—Y…Yes it's a problem! It's weird! Friends don't do that sort of thing with each other! Besides, I'm just like your pet, right? You should save Kissing for someone you love!

—Ahh, a pet. You actually took that seriously. (…) I don't really understand myself… Why did I do that? Maybe it's love? I see. That must be it.

**-*-*Flashback 5*-*-**

—Let's go back to Japan. Let's go back together.

_The faint dream I've seen so many times. The smiling Doumyouji, and the words I'd waited more than anything to hear—Why is this person the one who's saying them?_

**-*-*End of flashbacks*-*-**

This woman was once again in front of her, proud as always.

—I will grant you one thing you desire. Hurry up and say it, I don't want to owe you anything. Go on.

_One thing I desire…?_

—…I made a promise with him. I want him to forget it. Just tell him that and he'll understand.

—Very well. I'll tell him—and with this, she left.

—Why didn't you ask her to let Doumyouji do as he pleases?—Rui asked her.

—Because it's not my place to. He said it was something he had decided himself. Hanazawa Rui, I know I've said it many times, but thank you, so much.

—Quit saying that—he said with a smile on his face. Then, he got closer to her and kissed her forehead. A very well-known beat made Tsukushi's heart hurt.

—You and I have a connection when it comes to airports. Whether I'm in trouble or you are.

—You mean that time when you went after Shizuka-san to Paris?

—Uhuh. You supported me back then. This time, I'm going to support you. It's about time. Let's go to the departure gate.

—Okay—they haven't even taken one step while turning to go to the airplane when they saw Doumyouji standing in front of them.

—What are you two doing?—he asked.

—Tsukasa, I'm taking Makino home with me now.

—I can tell that by the fact that we're in an airport. But before that—

_Ah, he saw the kiss_—Tsukushi thought. Her bag slipped from her hands.

—Rui, what are you trying to pull here?

—I love Makino.

Her heart started to beat fast again. Less than two days ago she had decided to go look up for her curled haired boyfriend, but when he rejected her, he left a deep wound inside o her. And now Rui would say something like that.

—I had intended never to say anything about it. You're my friend and all…I thought that if things went well between you two, then that would be enough for me.

It happened too quickly, before she could realize it, Doumyouji threw a punch towards Rui's face, Tsukushi could see that Rui barely dodge but couldn't help to get a cut in his cheek. What she wasn't prepared for, was for Rui's answer. An accurate, strong and loud blow fell on Doumyouji's face, leaving him and her both with their mouths open.

—What are you doing! That's what I'd like to ask. What the hell are you doing? You leave Makino all alone in a place like this. How can you call yourself her boyfriend! Is that how you protect her? If it is, then I guess I misjudged you. You're the worst.

Doumyouji was dumbfounded.

_Doumyouji, I wondered how I would react when I saw you again. I came here with such a strong will and I was thrown back by your cold eyes. But now that I see you, I feel sorrow and a big void inside of me. I don't want to go through this all over again. I'm sick of this story repeats itself all the time._

—Makino, if you want to stay, then stay. Decide for yourself.

She looked at Doumyouji and then Rui, and saw her bag on the floor, the book in where she was keeping the flowers that Rui bought her had fallen. In that exact moment she took a decision for herself, something she hadn't done in a long time.

—Doumyouji—she got closer to him—forget about we promised each other that last time. Please, just forget it.

—Makino…—he stared at her with extreme sadness, but it was already much too late.

—Then, I think that's all. I'm leaving! –and giving him a smile, she turned around to catch up Rui.

After walking for a while, he talked.

—Is this what you really want?

—Yes, it'll be fine, but…there's something I would like to ask you, Hanazawa Rui. Is something extremely selfish and I'll understand immediately if you don't want to do it.

—What are you talking about?

—Take me far away—she said—I don't have the strength to go back to Japan in this moment, I don't want to face the rest of the guys right now, it's been enough with these last few days. I know how this sounds, and I know it's crazy but…

She stopped because she saw that Rui had pulled out his cell phone and seemed to not listen to her while he was talking in English to someone on the other line.

_It's obvious_—she thought—_my request is insane._

She turned around and decided to get out of there. She will go alone anywhere, it didn't matter anymore. Suddenly, she felt someone grabbing her by the shoulder.

—Where do you think you're going?

—What?

—Didn't you just asked me to take you far away? I just changed our flying tickets.

—Hanaza…—Rui covered her mouth his hand.

—Thank me again and I swear I'll drag you back to Japan.

Tsukushi nodded and smiled.

—I'll have to make a strong money withdrawal of the ATM right now, if not, they will be able to catch up to my credit card when we pay for something.

—It's not necessary to spend that much money.

—Makino, this is the first time you've have asked something for yourself and you think we ain't gonna celebrate? Come one, be a good girl and disregard the fact of the money just this time. Alright?

—Alright—she said with a smile on her face.

Rui paid the change of flights to Hawai, Tsukushi had never been there, but she thought it was beautiful: The sun, the sea, the sand, the smell, the people, the music…everything looked like it had escaped from a dream.

—I was right—she said.

—About what?

—I should've waited until my honeymoon to come here.

—What?

—My dream always was to come to Hawai after I got married, for my honeymoon. In the movies they always put this place as the perfect one for the couples, a romantic place.

—You think? I've been here millions of times.

—You rich people. Don't you have any romantic dream? At least one?

Rui remained silent while he thought for a bit.

—If you love the person beside you, it doesn't matter whether you're in a cabin or in Hawai, right? The thing is that you're together. I think that the best thing you can expect is to spend the rest of your life with the person you love.

Tsukushi stared at him. Was this the same Rui she'd known in the emergency staircase? The same Rui that hated to talk to strangers and with friends said only the necessary? Since he went to see her to New York and told her that he went to her out of worry, her heart had begun to hurt with every beat when he said things like that. What's more, he had kissed her again telling her that the most probable thing was that it was out of love. Was that possible?

—Makino, we should go check-in the hotel.

—No, let's not go to that hotel.

—Hmm? Why not?

Tsukushi looked up and saw more than 20 stunning floors standing in front of her in what surely was a 5 stars hotel.

—If Nishikado or Mimasaka try to find you, they'll do it easily this way and will come to ruin everything.

—Then…what do you propose?

—Isn't there any good place to sleep nearby? But that doesn't have a database that can be tracked down through your satellites or something?

—Mmm…I don't know. Let's ask around and see.

After leaving that zone of the island –one of the most luxurious ones by the way— the found many lodgings, hostels and pensions that offered shelter to foreign people for a modest amount of money. It didn't have the luxuries of a five stars hotel, but the necessary ones to have a good stay.

—Are you sure you can stay in a place like this?

—Why not? It'll be an adventure; it's the first time I'll do it. It'll be like the cleaning in the restaurant, although I don't think I'll get a tip this time.

They entered, then, a big pretty house where there were all sorts of foreigners: French, Polish, Canadian, Latin…they didn't feel bad at being the only Japanese in the area and the fluent English that Rui spoke, help them through the registry. Their landlady was a lady of burned skin, slanted eyes and strong accent, but she had a great smile and seemed pretty nice.

—_I do have a room for two left, but with separated beds._

—_There's no problem, we'll take it._

—What is she saying?

—That she does have a room for two people.

Tsukushi blushed furiously when she heard this.

—Don't worry, it has separated beds.

They went upstairs to their room. Upon entering, they found a cozy bedroom with a full bathroom and a beautiful view to the sea from a large window.

—Well, it's not as small as I thought it would be.

Tsukushi was still standing in the middle of the room with her luggage in hand, a little bit flushed and not knowing what to say.

—Makino?

—Ehh…yeah. It's nice, huh? Wow, have you seen this beautiful view? If it didn't have this thick curtains, the sun will wake you up earlier that you would like to. But, if you want, I can sleep in this bed closest to the window so it doesn't disturb your sleep, I know that you suffer of low blood pressure in the mornings, right? Besides…

—Makino…—Rui interrupted her and stared deeply into her eyes—Why are you so nervous?

—N-N-Ne-Nervous? Me? What makes you think something like that?

—Whenever you're nervous you start chattering like a parrot. If you don't like me being here I'll just ask for separated rooms—he said as he headed to the door.

—It's not that!—Tsukushi stopped him pulling a bit from his shirt—It's…not that, Hanazawa Rui…I know that for you maybe it's normal and logical to say and do the things you think of, but right now, as I told you before, I'm very vulnerable. I love Doumyouji, it's not something that's going to fade overnight, but you…you were always the person with whom I felt the best. It sounds silly, right? If you continue to behave like you did in the airpo…

Rui said nothing, but drew her close to him and kissed her. Tsukushi tried to push him off at first, but he pinned her to a wall and kept her there until she responded to him. It felt so good to share that moment, it made her heart beat faster, her legs waver a bit and her mind go blank…

—I know you're still in love with Tsukasa—he told her as he hold her—I'm not a fool, but what I told him in the airport is true, I love you. I'm not sure in what moment my feelings for you started to change…you're a strange girl, you know? But you were always giving the best of you, while I was a rich boy that got everything he wanted because of the family he was born into. Many times I felt embarrassed in front of you. Listen, I'm not asking you to go out with me, I'm just asking you to do everything that you want to do in this trip, anything at all. There'll be plenty of time to face reality when we get back, but for now…I'm here. Use me as you see fit.

—Hanazawa Rui! I couldn't…!

—You can, and you will—he let her go a bit and kissed her hair, her forehead, her eyelids, her cheeks and her lips—if you need a hug, a kiss or whatever, don't doubt to ask—he said with a mischievous smile dancing in his lips. Tsukushi couldn't help letting smoke escape from every pore of her body.

—It'll pass thousands of years before I ask you something like that, rich brat!—she said as she scampered to hit him.

—Hahahahaha! We'll see about that—he answered with a strange warm feeling in his chest. He had never offered something like that to anyone. Was it fair that he was taking advantage of the situation to spend time with her? To kiss her and hug her every time he wanted to? Was he betraying Tsukasa by loving his girlfriend like this?

—Makino, would you like to take a stroll down the beach?

—Mmm…okay.

Rui extended his hand out and waited. It all depended on her, she could grab his hand or reject it, he will only do what she allowed him to do and he will shut the doubts inside his chests. Hope was something dangerous and, without him realizing it, it had begun to grow inside him at an astounding speed. Tsukushi didn't look at him directly, but placed her finger in the hand that was extended in front of her and strangely, she felt as if that was home, as if that was the right place for her. Rui squeezed her hand and like this, they left the room together.


	2. A search and a wound

**Well…here I am with chapter two…I haven't received any reviews, but all the same, I'll keep trying just to see if anyone will…LOL! I hope you enjoy it!**

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><p>Tsukasa got back to the mansion and locked himself up in his room. He couldn't believe anything of what he had just lived in the last two hours: Makino going to look up for him to New York, he casting her aside as if she were nothing, Rui kissing her and declaring that he loved her and…taking her back. He ran his hand through his cheek; it still was sore and a little bit swollen.<p>

_Damn it…I've never thought he would hit me like that. _

He noticed the door opened and saw his mother entering his room.

—What do you want?

—I've come to give a message from that Makino girl.

—Makino talked to you?

—Is not that we have spoken of something in particular, but is her fault that now we have the contract that we've been chasing for so long…God! To only think that I owe her that, it makes me sick—She turned around to look at him—I offered her a thing, something that she wanted, anything and she asked me to give you this message: "Tell him to forget all the promised that we made to each other".

Tsukasa felt how a heavy ice block fell upon him and spread through every cell of his body.

—That's it. Get ready, the day after tomorrow we're going to Japan, there's and opening of a new restaurant and we need to be there—saying this she turned her back to him and left.

_It can't be, it can't be, it can't be, IT CAN'T BE!_

Tsukasa wreck his fist to the wall leaving it kind of cracked and hulled. With a bloody hand he ran to the phone and called up Soujiro.

—Hey, Tsukasa! At last you give me…

—Where's Makino?

—Eh? What do you mean by that? She's with you, right? She left running to New York to bring you back. Honestly, I've never though she had such a strong fight power.

—She's not with me…is…is a long story. Look up for her in her house and make sure to call me as soon as you find her, by any means I need to see her when I go to Japan. I'll be there in a couple of days.

—Ok, I'll do that. See ya.

_And now what went wrong? _Soujiro asked himself.

Meanwhile in Hawaii…

—Mmm…the breeze feels so good.

—I never thought you could get so tanned.

—You're also with red skin, Hanawama Rui!

Makino and Rui were in a boat that he had rented to spend the afternoon in the middle of the sea. It was late and soon the sun will hide behind the mantle of the sea. Makino had been pretty nervous thinking that Rui will do something when the time to sleep came, but he fell asleep before her and hadn't touch her in any suggestive way since that kiss against the wall.

_In the past I used to wonder what would've happened if Hanazawa rui would've fell in love with me earlier, would I have still not fallen in love with Doumyouji? The answer was no, either way I would've loved him…but now that he has casted me aside one more time and it's Hanazawa Rui the one by my side…What do I feel?_

Makino thought while putting her and over her chest and felt her heart beating faster each time she gazed Rui. I was not possible for her to forget Tusakasa in such short time, but the question was…Had she ever really forget Rui?

—What's wrong? —Rui asked her, pulling her out of her thoughts—It's been a while that you're looking at the sea with an anguish expression. Do you want to go back? Look that it's only our second day here.

_...our…he said our…_

—No, it's not that I want to go back, I was just thinking and I guess I got lost in the way.

Rui was leaning on the railing just as she was, contemplating her as is she was a beautiful landscape of the place. Unconsciously, Tsukushi looked at his lips and blushed. This gesture did not go unnoticed by Rui that began to approach her, slowly. Tsukushi closed her eyes in anticipation and then felt a small lump in her forehead.

—I already told you I will only do what you want to do. If you want _me_ to do something, you'll have to tell me—he said while giving her a charming smile. Rui turned around but felt that something was pulling his shirt; he turned and found a red Tsukushi from head to toes, with her gazed fixed to the floor and trembling a little.

—C-Co-Could you…?—Rui said nothing; he waited a bit while Tsukushi fought internally to find the right words. Was this what she really wanted? She wasn't sure—Could you kiss me? —She finally asked, bringing her face up and looking to his eyes.

Rui's heart seemed to have run a whole marathon for the fast way it began to beat. He turned completely around and took Tsukushi by her waist with one hand and with the other, her face. She tilted her head to Rui's hand, seeking the warmth that it gave. It wasn't long until their lips were together, dancing against each other looking a deeper way to explore. Tsukushi suddenly felt that Rui was licking her mouth each time he closed his lips and without thinking it twice, she decided to open up hers to invite him in. The sensation that this gave her whas that of an electric current that went through her whole boyd, Rui's tongue was soft and warm, moist and comforting. Rui on the other hand, felt like he was floating as he realized that Tsukushi's hands were resting on his chest and formed small fists against his clothes. They didn't know exactly how much time they were like this, exchanging their breaths, caresses. Rui ran his fingers on Tsukushi's naked arms, taking advantage of her sleeveless dress and she did the same to his chest that was uncovered by this open shirt. Not even when their breathing began to fail they wanted to stop, they both embraced each other strongly, gluing more their bodies to the other.

—We have arrived! —cried a voice suddenly. It was the helmsman letting them know that the ride was over. They instantly separated, somewhat surprised to have forgotten that anyone else was on board. They looked at each other and they were both with the cheeks flushed. They said nothing and Rui took her by the hand and took her to dinner.

**In Japan…**

—Hey, Tsukasa. What's up man? —Soujiro greeted him.

—Nothing, a stupid inauguration that I must attend. You never called me back about Makino.

—Actually—Akira intervened—by the time we found out something you were already on the plane. Makino hasn't returned to Japan.

—Say what!

—What you just heard. It seemed like the earth swallowed her…and Rui.

—What else do you know, Akira?

—My father's information network is efficient, but the only thing that they've come to gathered is that Rui bought two flying tickets to Japan with his credit card, tickets that were later changed an instant before the boarding with a new destiny: Hawaii. Then, he made a strong withdrawal of money of one of the airport's ATM and left. I've tried to look up his name or movements of his credit card in Hawaii but there's nothing, we get nothing. It's like they went there and vanished. Truthfully, we don't have the slightest idea of where they can be right now.

_Hawaii_—Tsukasa thought—_didn't she want to go there on her honeymoon?_

Suddenly, Tsukasa grabbed the chair he was sitting on and broke it. Both Soujiro and Akira backed off as they saw his ill humor.

—I'm leaving!

—To where? —Their friends asked him.

—To Hawaii.

—Are you nuts, Tsukasa? If you leave before the opening ceremony your mom will skin you alive! —Soujiro told him.

—It's true, don't rush things mate.

It was then that Tsukasa grabbed Akira by the neck and pulled him up with a menacing aura.

—And what the fuck am I supposed to do?

—Let me go! Tsukasa, just think a little! Afther the dinner is over we can immediately go over there to look up for them in my family's private jet!

The curled haired boy wanted to hit him, but he knew deep down that neither of them was in fault of what had happened. He let Akira go, somewhat ashamed of himself and turned around to leave the lounge.

—Pick me up as soon as the dinner is finished. I'll be waiting.

—Tsukasa—Soujiro called him—What happened when Makino went to look up for you?

He pretended he had not heard the question and left, leaving his friends with doubt written on their faces.

**Back to Hawaii…**

Three whole days have passed and they were on the fourth, planning what to do this time. They had already went boating, tasted the local food, went on city tours and explored a cave in an island on the sea.

—Maybe we could take it slow today, don't you think?

—Um! —Tsukushi answered. With each passing day they had been digging deeper in the caresses they offered to each other. After the kiss on the boat nothing had happened, they just eat their dinner and went off to sleep in their beds, although Tsukushi felt her skin hotter than usual and not necessarily because of the weather or the tanned. However, the next day, the third one, they had gone to change clothes to take a stroll on the beach and before going out, it was already customary that Rui kissed her (like that morning before leaving for breakfast), but this time while he had her cornered against the door, his hand ran down from her neck to her waist grazing her breast over her clothes. This was more than enough to Tsukushi to break the kiss to regain the air that was beginning to fail, and at the same time, she released a moan she first heard out of her mouth. Rui smiled, give her a kiss on her forehead and took her hand to leave the room.

Now, they were alone in the room and the afternoon was just starting.

—How about a stroll down the beach before we figure out what to do?

—Sounds good, I don't think I'll ever get tired of this place.

—Let's go then—Rui said takin her by the hand and, before Tsukushi knew what was going on, he lifted her up and started to twirl her around.

—Ahhhhhhhhhh! Let me down, let me down! Rui—she found herself on the floor and a little bit more calm too, until she heard her friend speak.

—You called me Rui—he said, feeling as if someone had freed him of every chain that have kept him under control for the last days. She saw how she blushed a little at realizing what she had said and before she could apologize; he hugged her and whispered to her ear—...Tsukushi.

He could clearly feel how the small body he was holding in his arms shaken and also how it's temperature had risen a bit.

—Tsukushi, Tsukushi…—after a few seconds he heard something that made him leave every thought of betrayal to his best friend in the past.

—R…Rui…—she had said while hugging him tighter.

—Are you still in love with Tsukasa?

—I still feel something for him, but…Rui…—she answered while sobbing against the boy chest.

—Tsukushi, are you alright? —he separated her from his body and tried to clean up her tears—I'm sorry, I didn't mean to force you to answer, neither do I want to impose my feelings on you, it's just that…

He didn't get to finish his phrase because Tsukushi captured his mouth in a kiss that blew him away. Still, he could savor something salty from the sway of their tongues and he knew she was crying.

—Wait! He told her while separating her. She was looking at him with desire in her eyes. —you shouldn't do this when you're still feeling like this.

—You said I could do whatever I wanted and Rui…Rui…I want you…I really love you! You were my first love and by leaving you in that terrace after confessing my feelings for you I thought it was over, but then…what's this thing I feel every time I kiss you? Every time I hug you? It's enough to see you for my heart to shrink and beat faster…—Tsukushi couldn't continue anymore as the tears fell down heavily from her eyes.

—Don't cry—Rui told her hugging her again—don't cry, please. I have confused you in the time we have spent here and that haven't been fair to you…

—It's not that! I'm not confused; I know clearly what I feel. I love Doumyouji but the wound he had left in me yet again is too deep for me to trust him again. And for you…—she said while grasping his face in her hands…—for you I've always felt that sensation that allows me to calm down and at the same time to be excited by the simple fact to have you near. I really love you Rui, I just need a little bit of time to heal but I'm sure that if you stay by my side, I can make it…I know how selfish this sounds but…

—No, it is fine, I said you could use me any way you wanted to…

—But I don't want to _use_ you!

—…and if you're considering me to something else besides a simple use, that's enough for me to put all of my strength in making you mine, Tsukushi.

Neither of them said anything else and forgot the plan for the fourth day, of the stroll down the beach and of anything else that was on their minds while they lost themselves in a kiss and a thigh hug. Rui slowly took her up to his bed and sat her there.

—We won't do anything that you don't want to, ok? If something bothers you just tell me and I'll stop—Tsukushi just nodded. She knew what was about to happened and couldn't help to feel the nervousness took hold of her somehow.


	3. In the bedroom

**Hello, hello! It took me more time than I thought to get to this chapter because I've been so busy with work but finally! I'm back with the third chapter of this love story, the love story that I always wanted to happen in the story...snif, snif...**

**Thank you very much harrypopo, Jenny Lie and lakeisha22 for your kind reviews! I hope you enjoy this new chapter!**

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><p>Akira, Soujiro and Tuskasa had arrived to Hawaii and the first thing they did was to check in the usual hotel, the one the F4 used when they traveled there. Tsukasa had gone down to ask in reception if by any chance the "young master Hanazawa" had been around that place lately.<p>

—No sir. The Young master Hanazawa hasn't come here since the las time you all came together. I hope he hasn't found another hotel, our staff is always willing to…

—Yeah, yeah…I already know how "willing" your staff is—he told the manager—But where can they be?

—Tsukasa, do you honestly think they're still here? Maybe they went backpacking to explore somewhere. You know what kind of weird bug Rui can be and Makino, no need to tell—Akira told him.

—It's true, for all that we know, they may not be here anymore—Soujiro supported him.

—No, I know they're here—Tsukasa insisted. Both of his friends looked at each other and shrugged knowing that when he was like that, it was impossible to change his mind.

—Maybe Rui payed in cash somewhere, Tsukasa. Let's go check out the hotels around the area. What do you think?

—Good idea! Let's go!

Tsukasa had bad feeling, a really bad feeling of knowing that Rui and Makino where missing, even worse, that they had disappeared on the same day. It was obvious that they were together. And he didn't like that; he didn't like that at all.

**Back to the pension…**

Rui had closed the curtains and turned on the fan. This made the room had a dim and comfortable light. He was now sitting on the bed kissing Tsukushi, trying to calm down all the feelings that he had stored up inside. She felt like she was flying, Rui always kissed her in a kind and warm way, he had never tried to force her like Tsukasa did once when he found out she loved Rui instead of him.

Both youngsters were lost in a soft but deep kiss, wet and provocative. Tsukushi felt how Rui slowly laid her down on the bed and her nervousness came back. After all, this was the first time she knew they were going to do more than mere kisses and patting. The young man realized this and tried to calm it down with soft kisses on her cheeks, ears and neck: he liked to notice how each time he did these, a sigh escaped from Tuskushi's lips. She was wearing a dress that he had bought her when they got there, it was a pale pink with white buttons on the front.

_Easy access, _he thought.

Rui started to tune up his caresses on Tuskushi's body, if earlier it was a soft kiss in her neck, now he stopped to taste every detail in every centimeter of her skin: if earlier it was a light touch over her chest, now his hand fully took a whole bosom and massaged it. She started to breath more rapidly, the sighs were now panting, her cheeks went from pink to deep crimson red, Rui couldn't deny he enjoyed with each one of her reactions. He went back to her mouth and was gladly welcome, Tsukushi held him strongly and pulled him to her trying to take off his shirt, but her hands didn't get to unbutton it because they were still shaking a little.

—I'll do it—Rui said with a smile. He got up for a moment and with a swift movement he got rid of the cloth. Tsukushi blushed even more, she had gotten used to see him shirtless all those days in Hawai, after all, even herself had used some kind of bikini when they went to the beach, but now…the situation was completely different. She was looking close at him, if she reached out her hand she knew that she would be able to touch that firm stomach, the hard but soft chest… Without thinking it much, Tsukushi got close to him and embrace herself to his body, she strongly inhaled the given off aroma. Yes, this aroma was the one that calmed her. A sudden warmth began to flush in Tuskushi's body, a warmth that started in her womb and extended to rest of her body, she saw how her hands crawled up through Rui's back, caressing him, while her mouth kissed and licked this abdominal area. Rui couldn't help to tremble at the sudden contact with her tongue. He wasn't sure if she knew what she was doing but he wasn't going to ask either, his hands began to wander through the girl's hair while caressing her face, he was trying to say _I love you, I love you very much…_ Tsukushi looked up and her gaze locked up with Rui's, he came down and kissed her bringing her down to the bed again. While he did it, one of his hands began to unbutton the white round buttons one by one while the other one caressed Tsukushi's inner thigh and lifted it up. He separated from her again and opened up the dress as if were to leaves on her body, he noticed she was wearing simple laced white underwear, nothing ostentatious, just like her, simple and direct, he always loved that about her.

He began to kiss her belly; Tsukushi flinched as soon as she felt Rui's lips on her body. Slowly, he began to trace a way to her bosom and found the bra obstacle. However, he didn't pay much attention to this. His mouth took possession of one of Tsukushi's nipples even with the fabric in between.

—¡Ah! —she cried out. _What… what was that? __Did I made that sound?_

But Rui didn't give truce. He licked, bit, kissed, sucked and kept that pace going from one nipple to the other while his tongue took care of the laced cloth to taste the skin directly. Tsukushi had her hand in his shoulders and squeezed every now and then, if Rui licked too hard, her back arched and her head was held back. Rui found amazing to looked at her like that. He remembered how he teased Tsukasa once telling him how much of a woman she could be. He was glad to know that not even in his most wild fantasies was this compared to the truth. Tsukushi was simply the most beautiful harmony he could have in this hands, and he was the one provoking those sweets sounds with each touch. After several minutes, the dress and bra were left forgotten on the floor and Rui took advantage of this to took off his shorts.

—…wait…—he heard Tsukushi.

—Are you okay? —he asked while laying next to her, both of them with only one piece of clothe left.

—Hold me.

Rui did what she asked of him and took her by the waist, she was so thin, so fragile. He noticed how Tsukushi's heart was beating even faster than before. She was scared, it was obvious.

—It will be best if we left this here.

—No! It's not that! I can go until the end!

—And I know that you can, but this is not the way. I don't want you to be able; I want you to desire it.

And Tsukushi began to cry.

—I'm sorry! I'm sorry! It's just that even though I know I want to be with you, I'm still afraid.

—Calm down—Rui said in a low whisper—you'll be ready, naturally, be it with me or anyone else, that will come to you. You'll see, it's like passing from one season to another. Come on, stop crying… I enjoyed you more than I thought you'd let me.

—Did…did you really liked it? But I didn't do anything…

—You made more than enough. Tsukukshi…you gave yourself to me, did you not?

—Not completely.

—I already told you, more than enough.

—But…—she said while he muffled whatever she was about to say closing her head to his chest hugging her. Tsukushi then looked down and looked at the boy's bulging crotch. Her brain began to wage a fierce battle.

**Modesty vs. Please Rui (*ding, ding, ding!*)**

She closed her eyes tightly and extended her hand to the place her eyes had gazed. Rui's reaction was swift, separating her from him with a strong jolt.

—Tsukushi…

—At least, at least…let me make you feel something too. I don't want you to stay like this because of me. Please—she said and gave him a passionate kiss while her hand found her way to the inner part of his underwear, provoking Rui to cut the kiss with a groan—…please, let me do it Rui.

He was on fire, he couldn't deny it, and more now that he had his shaft trapped in Tsukushi's little hand while she moved her fingers. That was too much.

—Then—he finally said—together.

And saying this, he also put his hand under her panties, finding a moist area, hot with curly hair.

Tsukushi didn't answer; she just opened her mouth to kissed the guy in front of her again. Both of them began to move, she didn't know if what she was doing was good or not, but she took Rui in her hand and began a fast swing that made Rui's hand explore deeper in her. It was after a few seconds that he found what his fingers were looking for: that small pleasure button.

Tsukushi moaned and pressed herself closer to Rui, involuntary moving her hips in search of a greater pleasure. Rui kept touching, kneading, pinching and at the same time, felt how he grabbed him harder. The dance continued, he touched, she knead, both kissing and looking into each other eyes with an expression that maybe had never shown to anyone. Rui didn't remember to ever had felt so much pleasure with Shizuka and Tsukushi had never done something like that with a man.

Soon, Rui felt he was coming, but he wasn't so sure about Tsukushi…

—Tsukushi…I…—but he was cut off, because his hand was trapped between the girl's thighs while he felt how from the deepest part of her body a hot liquid flushed, leaving him completely wet. She had come. Spasms ran through Tsukushi's body and to stifle her scream, she bit down hard on Rui's shoulder and squeezed her hand even tighter.

—Wait…if you do that…I…wait…ahhhh! —Rui could felt himself releasing on Tsukushi's hand while his hips went weak.

They stayed like that, panting, both with a soiled hand of their recent orgasms. They looked at each other, kissed and smiled.

—Daisuki da yo, Rui.

—Tsukushi…—and without knowing what to say for being so overwhelmed with his feelings, he embraced her again.


	4. The opportunity of a fresh start

Hello to everybody that´s Reading this fic! I'm really sorry about the delay in the updates but my cute bosses from Canada came and didn't let me breath for a whole weak!...But, here I come with a new chapter that I hope you enjoy!

**lakeisha22:** I LOVE YOU for reading my fic! I also think the drama should've happened this way, but, for that we have fics! Of all kinds! That's why I enjoy this website so much…

**jenny lie:** I always thought they belonged to each other as well… And Rui is so caring, so cute and so hot that I always melt when I'm writing…LOL!

I want to thank all of you and also **Adam Park, BatgirlRaven, harrypopo, Jenny Lie, Kuroi 002, Marina StormFire, the night vampire, tomieharley, Bazaargirl1, Shizuka Eien **and** Tsubame0104 **that have me in some kind of alert!

**Arigato mina-san!**

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><p>The three young man have alredy visited each one of the highest class hotels of the area but without luck. The afternoon had ended and they thought the best thing to do was to go to rest to start again the next day. Tsukasa was almost on the verge of losing his patience, his two friends knew that if the story repeated the next morning, they wouldn't be capable of contain his anger. When they arrived at the hotel, each one went to their rooms and it wasn't until early morning that Akira got up because of a new message on his cellphone.<p>

_Miss Makino and young master Hanazawa are still in Hawaii. Boheme Zone, Pukalani(1) hostel, they've been there for four days. _

Not in vain was he the son of a Yakuza boss, the information network was still impeccable, they might have taken a little bit longer than usual, but they did it at last. They were still there.

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The day came sneaking through a crack between the curtains of the room of Rui and Tsukushi. She was the first one in getting up and she had to sit down and thought a few seconds trying to remember exactly how the last night ended.

_Both young lovers had finished covered in sweat and tired after their physical exchange of emotions, Rui was the one who reacted first to see Tsukushi dozing off and took her in a princess hold to the bathroom…_

—¿_Rui?_

—_You need to clean yourself up. You must not sleep like this, I think the best thing to do is to take a shower_ —_he told her with a beautiful smile on his lips that left Tsukushi captivated._

—_Now you smile more…_

—_Now I have a reason to smile_

_And saying this he left her alone in the bathroom so she could take a shower. Tsukushi saw how she still had her hand stained with a half-white substance that in some places had become transparent. She approached to smell it out of curiosity and retreat almost immediately._

—_This smells like disinfectant_—_she thought._

_After her shower she returned to the room and found Rui sitting down on his bed watching TV. He also went to wash up and came out after a few minutes with a pair of navy blue pants that blend perfectly against his skin. _

—_What's wrong?_ —_He asked when he saw she was still awake sitting in her bed with a white nightgown_—_You can't sleep? Would you prefer to go out and do something? It's night time but it's still early._

—_No, I'm fine._

_Rui said nothing more and he was about to fix up the bed in which not so long ago he had discovered what Tsukushi's body felt like, when she took him by the hand, stopping him. _

_He turned around and could see that her cheeks were flushed and her gaze was down. Rui said nothing but he approached her and stood still. Tsukushi got up, pull the bedspread and the sheet and got into bed, followed by Rui that covered both of them. She put her back against his chest, he hold her by the waist and thus, little by little, sleep overcame them and they fell asleep. It was clear that between them words weren't necessary most of times, and this last few days their minds were more synchronized than usual. _

Tsukushi look down and saw a dishelved Rui covering his eyes with the pillow trying to avoid the sun.

—Rui, Rui… It's morning already.

—Mmmhhfff…zzzzzzzzz

Tsukushi couldn't help to laugh before this clasic reaction. Getting him up all those days in Hawaii had been a real torture, the boy didn't get up with anything, but when he did, there was nothing that could get him to sit down either, it must be weird to suffer low blood pressure in the mornings.

She was going to keep trying to wake him up, but she stopped when she stretched and turned to see the next bed, still messy and unmade. In her head the memories of the previous afternoon began to collide, causing her cheeks to flush in embarrassment. Was everything going to keep like that? She knew what she still feel for Tsukasa, but she could not longer deny herself the feelings towards the boy sleeping next to her. Everything was so difficult sometimes, on one had there was Tsukasa: irreverent, cocky, conceited and bossy, nevertheless, he had shown her that he could also be warm and childish, even tender and loving. On the other hand was Rui: reserved, absorbed in his own world, quiet, and one might even say weird, however, with time he had opened to her more and more, what better example than his confession in New York, she would've never imagine that Rui could show that kind of expression. She was not confused, that was clear, it wasn't that she didn't know who she loved; she knew she loved both of them, now the problem lied in trying to heal the wound that Tsukasa had left her. She was willing to try to open her heart once more if the other part was Rui…she just needed some time to forget.

—What are you thinking? You're frowning.

—Rui! When did you get up?

—A little while ago, after I felt you were calling me. I was half there, half here—the handsome young man answered while stretching the entire length of the bed.

—O… Ohayo…—Tsukushi said while giving him a warm smile.

—Ohayo, Tsukushi—Rui replied and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek—What plans do we have for today?

—I want to be outside all day! Let's go to the zones that we haven't gone, I don't think that we have finished Hawaii in three days.

—Well, there's something that we haven't done and it should've been the first thing to do when we arrived.

—What is it?

—We should visit Hawaii's Volcanoes National Park.

—There is a Volcanoes National Park? (2)

—Yes, and I think it's open until 5pm, so we could go after lunch. We could also visit the Thomas A. Jagger Museum and the Halemaumau Crater (3). There's a lot of other stuff there, I know you'll like it.

—Then, I'll go get ready for breakfast.

—And I'll sleep five more minutes—he said while yawning.

—You're imposible—Tsukushi giggled.

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—Why didn't you tell me the exact same moment that you got it? —Tsukasa was furious sitting on a limo with Akira and Soujiro. Akira let him know about Tsukushi and Rui's whereabouts as soon as he got up that morning, but his friend instead of being happy and thank him, reproached him the fact of not have telling him before.

—It was 3.00 o'clock in the morning, Tsukasa.

—So? You don't know if they decided to leave today or go someplace else. This should've been done immediately!

—And what were you planning to do? —Soujiro asked—Go in the hostel and kick down Makino's door?

—Yes, if it was necessary.

—What neither of us understands until now is how we get to this point, Tsukasa. Makino went to look for you, the only Eitoku working class virgin, the one that had finally admitted that she love you and decided to fight against anything to be with you. You haven't told us what really happened with you two when you met…Because you did meet, right?

—Yes…

—So…what happened?

—This is it young masters, Pukalani hostel—the driver let them know. Tsukasa was saved by the bell and stepped out of the car before their two friends, that couldn't do more than stared at each other and shrugged before following him.

They entered the hostel and were welcomed by a large woman with a strong accent.

—E como mai! (4) Welcome to the house-hostel Pukalani!

Tsukasa immediately asked her where Rui and Tsukushi were in his poor English that instead of help, it confused. Akira and Soujiro then took charge of the questions and the lady remembered.

—Are they friends of yours? —she asked kind of suspicious

—Yes—Akira answered and showed her an F4 picture he had on his cellphone—we came to get them to go out for a ride because we are also on vacations. Are they here?

—Oh yes! They're a couple of japaneses, right? A tall young man with light colored hair and a small young lady with black hair. They got here less than a week ago.

—Would they happen to be in right now?

—Well, I don't think so. If I'm correct they went out really early and said they were going to hit the city. But I recommended them a really nice place to visit, every foreign that come here go there. Maybe if you go, you'll find them.

—Of course, it will help us a lot.

—It's a flea market not far from here. I'll give you a map—And saying this, the lady went to the back part of the reception desk. Before anyone could notice, Tsukasa took the registration book and looked up for the names.

—Tsukasa! Leave that before someone notices it! Soujiro!

—Hai! —and saying that, he kept guard. Tsukasa went back to the date he saw them in the airport and started looking. After half page he found Rui's signature.

—Room 205…but—and immediately next to it, separated by a coma, there was Tsukushi's name. Tsukasa threw the book to the floor and went upstairs like a storm to search for the 205. Akira and Soujiro gave up and decided to wait downstairs to not get in trouble.

When Tsukasa found the room, he turned the knob, but it was locked. Without thinking it twice he gave the door a strong round kick and opened it. There was no one inside, it was a simple bedroom, even empty, it has two separated beds, but one was made and the other one not.

Rui and Tsukushi had made the bed they had slept in, however, for some tacit reason, none of them gave signals of wanting to made the other one, the one that now, was leading Tuskasa to the worst situation possible, and even though he wasn't _that_ far from the truth, his mind was only thinking in one way. He left the room and on his way, he almost crashed with Mrs. Kiele, the landlady.

—But what…? Hey, young man! You can't enter the rooms without permission! Hey!

—Please madam—Soujiro told her—forgive us for this discomfort we've caused and thank you for the map. Here, this money should be enough to cover any damage he have may done. We're sorry.

—Damages? Damages you say? Oh, blessed Kanaloa(5)! —and went running upstairs to check on what just happened.

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—There are so much beautiful things! Look, Rui—Tsukushi said while showing him a woodcarving paperweight—it's a Tiki(6)

—You want it?

—Oh no, no. I was just watching—and she blushed a little. It was good enough for her that Rui had taken her to Hawaii without asking anything, that he was by her side without asking anything in return and that he stayed with her even knowing what she felt for Tsukasa. It wasn't fair that on top of that, she began to ask him to buy her things.

—Give me one please.

—Rui!

—I'm not buying it for you, I'm buying it for me

—Oh…well.

—Here you go young man. Mahalo! (7) —the store owner said.

—Here you go.

—Eh? Didn't you say you bought it for you?

—Yes, this is mine, and because it is mine I can do whatever I want with it, and what I want is to give it to you. Am I allowed to do what I wish with my belongings?

Tsukushi took the small Tiki in her hands and gave the boy a really sweet and tender smile. How was it possible that she had once forgotten what she felt for him?

—I want you to always smile like this, the rest doesn't matter.

—Baka…

—Come on, let's go. There's something I want to give you before we go to lunch.

—What is it?

Rui didn't answer, he just smile and held out his hand. Tsukushi took it almost by reflex and let him led her to wherever he wanted to. They began to walk and while they did, Tsukushi could see that the further they walk, the less store and people seemed to be there. The noise decreased and now she really had no idea where were they going.

Then she saw it, a beautiful viewpoint surrounded by palms and showered by the sunlight, there was no one in that place and she found it strange since it was so lovely. When they approached the ticket cabin, Rui simply smiled at the guard and the latter waved back letting them go in just like that.

—Etto…aren't we supposed to pay?

—Nope, just for know, we own this place.

—Eh?

—Rui took the bags and placed them on the floor, then, took her by the edge of the rail from which they could see the wonder of the scenery: the sand, the sea, the sky, the palms.

—Tsukushi—he said while facing her and taking both of her hand—even though I would love to stay here forever like this, I know is not possible. Firstly, because you still have to attend to school and go back to Yuuki, the poor thing must be desperate without news from you; and secondly, because I know of what it's still going on in here—and he pointed at her head—and here—he pointed her heart—I'm not asking you to decide anything or rush things, I just want to make something clear—He let one of her hands go for a moment and looked for a little box lined with emerald green plush in his pants' pocket—This…is my declaration of war—And he gave her this crooked smile that made the heart of any woman skipped a beat.

Tsukushi couldn't believe what she was looking in front of her. That was a ring's box; she wasn't that dumb to not know that. What she didn't know was what to do, if she accepted the box, did it mean she will start a relationship with him?

—This doesn't mean that you are accepting to be my girlfriend or anything like that, Tsukushi—Rui said, it seemed that he read her mind. He let her go and opened the box. It was a marvelous, silver ring, with a single Hawaiian flower carved in the middle—What this means is that I'm willing to everything humanly possible to make you mine, obviously, with your consent. All that has happened between us these last few days had been like a dream and I treasure it a lot, but now it's necessary that you're aware that I'm totally serious about you, this doesn't end even when we return to Japan.

_Is it possible? Could this really be possible? __All I need is time and he is giving it to me like it was nothing. Makino Tsukushi… you deserve to be happy!_ —she thought. Who could deny that she had tried? Who could say that she didn't give her all? The actions that started on New York airport gave her a new perspective, too long had she preoccupied for her mother, her father, her brother. This time, at least this time, she will selfishly thing of her.

Tsukushi, that had her eyes wet, let her tears run free before the bewildered gaze of Rui that didn't know the reason of her cry, but it faded as he saw a faint smile drowned in her face and an outstretched hand waiting to be dressed with the offered ring. Rui smiled back and put it on her right ring finger.

_Maybe, someday, I'll be able to put one in your left ring finger…_ —he thought, surprised of how much hope he was harboring within him, even knowing how dangerous this can be.

—Arigato, Rui.

Rui hugged her tightly and she hugged him back, both unaware of the people that had witnessed the scene.

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Akira, Soujiro and Tsukasa were walking through the whole flea market looking for Rui and Tsukushi, without success. Trying to ask was another waste of time and the boredom was beginning to turn into annoyance and impatience in the three of them: In Tsukasa because of the fact of not finding her yet in Akira and Soujiro, for having to stand Tsukasa.

They were about to tell him that it wasn't worth it, that the best thing to do was to return to the hotel, when suddenly they heard Japanese and turned their heads immediately. They were a couple of girls who were laughing at times and others, seemed disappointed.

—Don't you think he was really handsome? —one said.

—Of course! I'm not blind, but the chick by his side, aish… what's so good about someone like her?

—Excuse me, ladies. —Soujiro interrupted with his "playboy" switch on to get what he wanted—it seems we speak the same language, and you know how important the "tongue" is in this cases.

The girls almost fainted when they saw such a hot guy, and even more when Akira joined him.

—Why do look so dissapointed, dear?

—Oh well—one of them said with a silly giggle—is just that not so long ago we saw a really hot guy passed by, but now that we have met you, we know that there's no point in comparison. —and she winked at Soujiro.

—Thank you very much—he said and kissed her hand—And tell me, this guy that you saw, was he also Japanese?

—Mmm, yes. But obviously he has terrible taste. He was with a girl that couldn't even hold a candle to him.

—And where did you see them?

—They went to the viewpoint, it's the only interesting thing on that side.

—What do you think, Akira?

—It's a possibility. Let's go.

—What the hell are you doing! —Tsukasa arrived—We have to keep on looking!

—Shut up and follow us.

—Hey…what about us? —the girls asked.

—Maybe we'll see each other later, little kittens—And saying this, they pulled Tsukasa to the street the girls had pointed.

—This is useless—he said.

—We have had to stand you dragging us here to chase Makino—Akira said—now you'll take it because we might have a clue about where they are. Now walk!

It didn't take them that long to get to the viewpoint and while they were still arguing they could see a single couple at the end of the rail. They thought that was weird, this being a touristic place and all of that and tried to get in to verify if they were them, but a guard stopped them.

—I'm sorry, you can't come in.

—But there's people there—Akira said.

—Yes young man, but I ask of you to please come back in an hour. The place has been reserved for now.

—The whole place? Someone reserved the whole place? —Tsukasa asked menacingly.

—Ehh…yes.

Tsukasa pushed the guard with all his strength and enter. The poor man was left lying unconscious on the floor and Akira and Soujiro followed Tsukasa but stopped when they saw him looking at the couple in front of him. Indeed, they were Tsukushi and Rui, and he was putting a ring on her finger while she was holding out her hand, crying. Immediately after, they hugged. Tsukasa was already out of control and ran to where they were and shouted:

—¡RUI!

Rui reacted at once, he managed to put Tsukushi behind him and dodge the punch by little while Akira and Soujiro came and tried to stop Tsukasa.

—LET ME GO, DAMN IT! RUI! HOW DARE YOU TO…!

—Dare to what? To love her? I had already told you, I love her since long ago. That I haven't said anything is different.

—Rui…This again? Come on, we don't want to go through this again—Soujiro told him.

—That's right, Rui. You know that Makino and Tsukasa are together…then why…

—Together? Haven't you told them what happened in New York?

There was an awkward silence, Tsukasa stopped struggling and Akira and Soujiro became serious this time.

—Spill Tsukasa.

—…

—Tsukasa, come one man…talk.

—Tell them—Rui said—tell them how you threw Tsukushi out of your mansion without giving her a chance to speak, of how you didn't look for her for two days and of…

—I had no other choice! The witch was…

—I don't give a damn about your mother! You know very well that there's more than one method to ensure the safety of a person. You could've called us, any of us, and we would have made sure that she was safe. But no, you simply left her alone in a city she didn't know, full of strange people that didn't speak her language. You left her all alone, Tsukasa.

—Is this true? —Soujiro asked.

—Why didn't you tell us? —Akira asked.

—None of that matters! What matters is that you took advantage of everything, right! You brought her here without telling anyone and coaxed her!

—Doumyouji…—Tsukushi finally spoke leaving Rui's back—this is something I decided for myself. It was me who asked Rui to bring me here, because I knew I wouldn't be able to bear the questions from everybody, including yours guys, about why didn't we came back together, if we were still a couple or not… At that moment, I was simply destroyed, and Rui accepted my selfish request.

Tsukasa listened her halfway because his eyes were going from Rui, to Tsukushi, to that ring she was carrying in her finger. She was already calling him by name, only a few days had passed and…

—Makino…I, I'm sorry—they all turned to look at him with an incredulous look on their faces. He, the great Doumyouji Tsukasa…apologizing in public? —I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have let you go in the moment that I…

—…that you told me to scram? I didn't want your charity, Doumyouji. I've had enough of this come and go with you…I…It hurts, this hurts me. I don't want to go on with this, I told you in the airport, to forget everything. I don't even know why you're here right now.

—Come on, Makino, give him a chance.

—Why, Nishikado? So that her mother go back to my parents house to insult them? Or my own to tell me I'm some kind of tramp for getting involved with his son? So that she can come back and control him again and he can hurt me again like he did in New York? No…not anymore. I've had enough! —and she cried again. Akira and Soujiro couldn't do anything but stare at her, understanding what she had been through. This time, they couldn't take their friend's side.

—Tsukushi—Rui called her while trying to calm her. That was the trigger for Tsukasa. He had called her by her name when even he didn't do it, had given her a ring, was wiping away her tears, had taken her away from him, had slept with her in the same bed…He couldn't take it one more second. Taking advantage of no one holding him down anymore, he went to give Rui the punch he wanted to since long ago, but it was in that exact same moment that everything went wrong.

Tsukushi, that was wiping away her tears, saw Tsukasa coming at Rui with all the malice in the world, and without thinking it twice, she pushed Rui and faced him. It was too late for his arm to stop and the blow hit her right check fully, making her lose consciousness.

—Tsukushi! —Rui shouted.

—Makino! —cried out another three voices.

Tsukushi was lying on the floor with blood flowing from deep cut on her check, completely fainted.

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><p><strong>Glosary<strong>

(1) Pukalani: Divine Door

(2) Hawaii's Volcanoes National Park: A well visited tourist attraction. Here I leave you the link if you want to know something more about this beautiful place. (./)

(3) Thomas A. Jagger Museum and the Halemaumau Crater: Attraction withing the national park.

(4) ¡E como mai!: Welcome!

(5) Kanaloa: God of the oceans.

(6) Tiki: Thename refers to different types of images used throughout Polynesia, from images that were used in ceremonies of the Maori tribe in New Zealand, to the moa sculptures in the east to the images of today's Hawaii

(7) Mahalo: Thank you.


	5. Tsukushi's decision

**Hello! Here I am with my newest chapter for you! I have to say, I didn't think I was going to get any more responses because my three first chapter got really few reviews, but I'm so happy to see people to read this not-so-well written words. I really thank you all of you! **

**My thanks are at the end! **

**Please enjoy!**

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><p>Four young people were in the room of a luxurious suite eagerly awaiting. The minutes passed and not hear anything, only increased the tension. Suddenly, after what seemed an eternity, a doctor left the main room, the veteran was a little surprised to find four gazes expectant and hungry for news.<p>

—The young lady is well—there was a general sigh of relief—however, she received a heavy blow, too strong I think. From what I have felt, there's not fractured cheekbone, but the fact that her face has marked so quickly makes me wonder. I would beg you to please let me take her to the clinic to undertake an exhaustive examination; after all, she also hit his head when she fell.

—Has she reacted at all, Dr.? —Akira asked.

—Not at all, but after that tremendous impact it was expected, especially being a woman. Anyway, I will call for the ambulance to come as soon as possible, I would recommend to look for some clothes in case she needs to stay under observation. If you wish, you can go see her, inside is the nurse who will accompany her until they take her to the clinic. Good afternoon.

He said goodbye among the thanks of the young men and left. The only reason why Tsukasa and Rui were in the same room without arguing, was because both Akira and Soujiro were willing to get truth out of Tsukasa even if it was the hard way. After hearing how little Rui had said and what Tsukushi confirmed, they could not stand idly by.

—I'll go see her—said Rui. Tsukasa made a gesture to stop him but the look their friends threw at him brought him back to sit.

—Now that Rui is not here, Tsukasa, start talking—said Soujiro.

—I don´t have to tell you anything.

—You really think that? You really think you don´t owe us at least a small explanation after having made us go through hell to find a girl with whom you've already ended your relationship?

—I haven't ended anything with Makino!

— Well it seems that she did, Tsukasa—said Akira—So unless you let clear what exactly happened in New York, you'll have to get her back on your own.

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Rui entered the room and found the nurse taking the pulse of Tsukushi.

—I'll finish soon, young man. Give me a minute. — After 10 seconds, she took note and separated from her side—She'll be just fine, it seems that there was no fracture. Rest assured— and saying this, she retired to the kitchen of the suite.

Rui could not believe it when he saw her. The face which he loved so much was really swollen, the cheek was red and near her eye, there was a cut of about one centimeter long. He clenched his fists in anger when he saw that he could not prevent her getting hurt and stroked her good cheek while taking her hand.

—Here—the arrival of the nurse surprised him, while she hand him a bag of ice—Is good that there has been cut you know? So all the bad blood may come out rather than stay inside and cause an infection. Could you please gently apply ice? The swelling will go down faster this way.

—Will she wake up soon?

— It is different for each person, but her basic examinations went well. Hopefully she will soon open her eyes.

The good nurse had seen the look of Rui contemplating the girl laying in bed and could not help noticing the gesture he had to caress her hand and move his finger around the ring she was wearing.

_It's good to be young…_she thought, while she recalled of her romantic days with her husband.

—Mmm…

Both of them reacted at seeing her open her eyes slowly, Rui gave room for the nurse to come over to check her status. Instinctively, Tsukushi took her hand to the beaten cheek but the good lady stopped her.

—Calm down girl, you'll be fine.

Tsukushi did not understand ... the only english word she got was "fine" and not seeing anyone she knew, she began to panic.

—Rui… Rui wa dokodesu ka?(1)

—Here I am—he replied as he stood in her range of vision—here I am, Tsukushi.

Rui felt like in a part of all the anger he had inside, the happiness of being the first person she had asked for.

—Where are we? What happened?

— We are in one of the suites in which the rest of the F4 is accommodated. We brought you here because you passed out.

—I fainted?

—What did you expect after receiving a blow of Tsukasa? We are already accustomed to it, but you ... why did you do that?

— I think I just reacted; I did not stop to think exactly what would happen next. How bad do I look?

— I'm not gonna lie to you; we need to take you to the clinic for more tests. This cut, we will have to make you see a plastic surgeon, I don't want any marks left on your face.

—My head hurts, a lot.

—Excuse me—Rui called the nurse— Could you give her something for the pain?

— Of course, you should also try to eat a little; it will make you feel better. Excuse me.

The woman left with a smile. She had always been a dying fan of love stories and now there was one unfolding before her very eyes. She calling him, he comforting her, both holding hands, laughing under his breath, she decided to go ask for something light to eat for the patient, while she gave them some privacy.

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Tsukasa had finished telling his story and why he had left her alone after kicking Tsukushi out of his mansion.

—I couldn't do more.

—Sorry, Tsukasa. This time I agree with Rui. You could have called us to ensure her safe return, especially knowing the men of my father and mine are on either side of the globe—said Akira.

Soujiro was silent. He did not want to side with anyone by stating his opinion, but he definitely felt sorry for Tsukushi, but didn't approve that Rui had taken the first chance that he got to intervene.

They heard the door and saw the nurse leave with a smile on her face and trying to close behind her quietly.

—Something wrong? —Tsukasa asked.

— Oh nothing, just wanted to give them some time together while asking for something to eat for the lady.

The moment the lady had finished mention those words, both Soujiro and Akira knew that nothing good could come of them. And indeed, one second after Tsukasa was going to the room to see what the hell was going on, followed by his two friends who were simply following him to prevent a major disaster. By opening the door suddenly, he found none other than Rui tenderly embracing Tsukushi, when they heard the thunder they separated. Akira, Tsukasa and Soujiro returned to remain silent, Tukushi's face was more marked than when they had taken her to the hotel, and besides that, she was crying.

—I am sorry to have made you worry.

—Not at all, but don't you dare do that again—replied Soujiro—you'll see that they'll take you soon to the clinic and take care of you.

—That's right, Makino—said Akira— you just have to worry about yourself. When the doctor gives the OK, we'll go back to Japan. Rui, both of your thin-ehhm ... Makino's things, should I send someone to bring them?

—Yes, please Akira. I will call the hotel to left said that someone will be going to pick them up. Did you left something in the laundry?

—No, we were supposed to send the clothes when we returned. It's separated in a bag in the bathroom.

—Well, I'll call the hostel—Rui gave a quick glance at Tsukasa, he didn't want to leave her alone with him, but he knew that sooner or later these two would have to talk. He got up and giving his back to the rest said in a whisper—I won't take long.

Rui left the room making a sign to the other two to follow him, no one wanted to leave them alone knowing that World War III could start, but they did.

The moment the door was closed Tsukushi left at one side of the bed a mirror she had in her hands, she had finally seen the reality of how she was, and without wanting it, the tears had escaped her eyes; and once again it was Rui who was there to lend her his chest.

—So?

Tsukushi looked at Tsukasa.

—So what?

—Are you ok?

—You're seriously asking me that?

—If you had not interfered you would not have the face like that!

Tsukushi did not answer, she only looked at him as though she could not believe that, even in a time like this, he could find a reason to yell. At that moment the door opened and the nurse came in.

—Oh, sorry. I didn't know I had interrupted—she had a tray of food for her. Tsukasa went to sit in a chair, completely sulking with the world and the nurse went to attend to Tsukushi—They'll be coming soon so you'd better eat fast.

—_Thank you._

Tsukushi didn't understand a thing the lady was telling her, but with some few signs, the warm food she had brought and her kind smile, she couldn't do nothing but thank her. At least something was left over from the time she learned countless things for the TOJ contest. (2)

She tried to eat quickly, but to move her jaw hurt. The nurse was worried about her because she could not give her more pain pills until further notice, meaning, new doctor instructions. Finally, after 15 minutes, Rui came back.

—The ambulance is here. We better go down, they'll take our stuff directly to the clinic.

—Thank you. Could you do me a favor? Could you tell this lady that I'm really grateful for all the care she has given me?

Rui smiled, typical of her, her face was marked, but she just kept thinking about others. He went to speak with the nurse while Tsukushi headed for the door, she didn't want stretchers or stuff like that, and however, it would have been good to have some of those, since in reality the head injury had shaken her more than she thought. Near the pass into the room of the suite, she tripped over the carpet and went to go face to the ground, if it were not for Tsukasa, who extended his arms to take her by the waist in time to avoid the blow.

—Be careful.

Tsukushi could not help blushing. But she just did not want to maintain contact with him longer than necessary. She gave him a slight nod and wanted to continue alone.

—No, wait. The nurse says it's best to go in a wheelchair.

—But Rui ...

He said no more, but the look he gave her was enough for Tsukushi to understand she will not wind this. She resigned herself to sit down until they brought the wheelchair. The nurse went away again, leaving, now in a quite tense room, the three people less suitable to be together. Tsukushi did not know where to look, Rui looked at her and Tsukasa looked at him, obviously irritated.

—Rui, we must talk.

—Mmm? About…?

—What do you mean…! Abouit everything you have done! About what's happening right now! How did this end up like this!

Tsukushi was scared, even shaking, she knew how dangerous the rage of Tsukasa could be and did not know what to do.

—We arrived at the airport, your mother talked with her, then you talked to her, then Tsukushi asked me to take her away and I brought her here. End of story.

—And what's this!

Tsukasa took Tsukushi's right arm tightly showing the ring from her finger as she tried to get away.

—Let her go

It was the first time she heard a tone so cold in Rui's voice. Tsukasa also seemed surprised, but that didn't stop him from being angry. He released her and stood face to face with Rui.

—If you think I'm going to let this go, you're wrong. Makino is mine!

How many times had she heard that already? Tsukushi was not sure, but from the first day she met him, he was like that, taking by force what he wanted, if he didn´t get it, he pay. So what did that make her? She had never been bought with money, true, but every time she tried to get away from him, he always saw a way to follow her, harass her, stalk her and get her back to his side. Last time, however, it was she who had taken the decision to finally accept and confront her feelings, running toward to what now she didn't know if was real love. Was it true all that she had come to feel for Tsukasa? Or was it all simply a consequence of the fact that it had always been a game of cat and mouse ... For the first time since she had met Tsukasa and Rui, she was confused.

On the other hand, Rui did not even bother to respond to the statement of Tsukasa because he found it totally absurd. He knew how powerful his friend was and that he could get anything he wanted just by snapping his fingers, but to think of her as a thing, that was too much.

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Tsukushi had been being treated by a plastic surgeon, the best of the clinic according to records, but still, Rui was uneasy, thinking that perhaps a scar would be left on his face forever. He could not allow something like that, would not allow that for not being able to protect her she had to be marked forever.

Tsukasa was another who was worried, he obviously didn't show it, not for nothing he had been the leader of the F4 for almost all his life, some habits die slow. Akira and Soujiro kept company to their two friends, still waiting to know what the outcome of such complicated love triangle.

—The family of Ms. Makino?—Came a nurse to ask.

—Yes—answered the four of them simultaneously.

—Ehh ... Well, the lady asked me to please ask two young men to enter, I didn't know I'll find four.

—Ahh ... she must refer to both of you. Go and end up with this. Tsukasa, do not make any scandal ok? —Soujiro recommended.

—I know! Ashhh, you only say that to me as if I were out there making scandals.

Soujiro and Akira exchanged glances and shrugged preferring to keep their comments to themselves.

When Tsukasa turned around, he saw that Rui was already walking.

—Oi! Don't get ahead!

They both entered a small room in which Tsukushi was lying back in a bed with a gauze stuck to her cheek, other than that, she seemed to be pretty good.

—How are you? —Rui said with a smile

—Quite better, thank you, I can't believe I'm making you spend even more money with all of this.

—Just for you to know, the one paying for all of this is me—Tsukasa intervened. Tsukushi stood stiff inquiringly looking at Rui, he only had an expression of _I couldn't stop him. _

—I'm sorry to be troubling you again, Doumyouji. I'll see the way to give you all this back.

—How is it that you want to give _me_ back my money and not _him_?

—That's because there's already an agreement made with Tsukushi. She will pay me back for everything she owes me one day; I'm taking notes of all of that so that when that day comes, she'll pay until the very last cent. Right?

—Right.—said she with a smile—well, there are two reasons why I called you both. I think you better sit down.

Rui sat in the chair next to his bedside and Tsukasa did the same in the other.

—The doctor says I'm all right, I only need to be watched over tonight; tomorrow morning I can go and I'll have the stitches removed in a few weeks in Japan ...

—How do you know? —asked Tsukasa.

—The doctor speaks Japanese, it seems that he is the kouhai of a recognized surgeon in Japan, he gave me his sempai card, his name is Hiroshi Machida —at the mention of the name, the two young men —I see you know him. That is good, so I have less fear of going to get this out, the fact of getting them was already quite uncomfortable.

—Are you complaining about my work? —a young doctor then made his entry, while he was older than the rest of them, he must not pass the 30—Let me tell you, your pretty face will not have any single brand of that ugly blow you took.

Tsukushi blushed a little after hearing him and looked down.

—A pleasure, my name is Nakoyama Tetsuya—he said as he shook hands with Rui and Tsukasa—Hawaiian mother and Japanese father, even though I studied my entire career there, I had to return to help here, where people need it most. You do not know how good it makes me look a few Japanese here. Although this young lady—he disarranged a little Tsukushi's hair—I already told you I never want to see here again. If it's outside, however, I would not complain.

The guy was a complete flirt, and again he was handsome enough, you'd think he would have more future as an actor or model, but this man had chosen medicine.

—Hey what the fuck you think you're doing?

—Oh, sorry. I did not know that your boyfriend was here Tsukushi-chan.

Tsukasa was burning, this guy had come bursting into praise for her, and now called by her first name although he had met her only a few hours ago.

—He's not my boyfriend ... —she said slowly but clearly while looking straight at Doumyouji. He felt his anger going away.

—Ah, well, I thought, being so overprotective, and you have a ring on your finger ... —Tetsuya then saw how Tsukushi's eyes betrayed her by giving a quick look at another young man sitting next to her bed.

_Huh ... So that's how it is? Well, it's not like I'm going to see her again after this, it's good that I haven't involved any more than necessary._

—Well, just came to see how you were, do not forget to take your pills and please, if you ever come back with "less baggage," do not hesitate to seek me— and for his departure he took her left hand and kissed it while staring intensely at her, a fact which again make Tsukushi stained her cheeks.

When he left, there was an awkward silence floating in the room (A.N: what a surprise). Tsukushi spoke first.

—Doumyouji, you and I are no longer ... Well, I think you left it quite clear in New York and I ended up cutting the ribbon at the airport ...

—I already told you I had no choice! The old witch told me that if I could refuse you right then and there that she would let me do whatever I wanted after two years and that she would leave you and your friends alone!

Tsukushi was surprised at this statement, but it did not make her decision to falter for even a second.

—Doumyouji ... do you want to hear the truth? Are you really prepared to know how I feel?

Doumyouji fell cold, he saw how Tsukushi turned to see Rui and as if she had sent a telepathic message, he got up and stood next to her without touching her, but protectively. He didn't want to hear it, didn't want to even think of what it meant that ring on her finger, but he had to, he would face whatever she was about to say and prepare for a plan of action to follow.

—I love you—Tsukasa was not expecting this—it would be really ridiculous of you to think otherwise after all we went through. But, I also love to Rui ...

—Are you crazy?

—I do not know! The only thing I'm sure of, Doumyouji, is that every time you did something to hurt me he was the one who was there with me to pick up the pieces and tell me to go back to your side. It was Rui. I don't want you to start again a movement to get us out of school because I hope you have matured enough to forget about your childish tricks. But ... but I hope that both of you listen for this request. _**Leave me alone.**_

Now Rui was also surprised.

—Tsukushi ...

—It's not like I don´t want to see you, I still want to be your fried although it seems that after so much history is impossible, I want you to give me the possibility of the choice, with time, since I am hurt enough to want nothing at this time. Let me choose, I know it sounds unfair, but I cannot play with your feelings after knowing what those are. Let me approach you if I want to, and above all, do not hold grudges to whoever I choose at the end.

—Now I know you've gone insane. Do you really think I can let something like this happen? Are you planning on throwing away everything we've been through to get to where we are?

—YOU HAD NO PROBLEM AT ALL A FEW DAYS AGO SO DON'T COME HERE TO TELL ME WHAT I CAN AND CANNOT DO! Enough! No more pressure from anyone...

At that moment the door opened, showing five men dressed in black who had all the look of being a bodyguard.

—Master Doumyouji, your mother demands your return to Japan as soon as possible.

And without further notice, they were dragging him to the exit.

—Let me go! Damn it, leave me alone! I'll go back when I want to! MAKINO, DO NOT THINK THIS ENDS HERE! AND YOU RUI, DO NOT DARE TO SHOW YOUR FACE IN FRONT OF ME AGAIN!

His yells were heard less and less as the bodyguards drew him down the aisle, Tsukushi was once again surprised at the ability of the mother of Doumyouji to find him anywhere in the world.

—So—Rui made her react—I have to leave you alone.

—Rui ... —and without knowing why, she began to cry.

—Hey, hey ... don't be like that—he sat on her bed and hugged her—I knew that eventually something like this would happen, I really got scared back there when you said it because I thought you didn't want to see me again, but if all you wanted was time, I knew that. Come on, calm down.

Rui wiped her tears with a handkerchief and smiled. Then took his hand and kissed the ring that was in her finger.

—Do not forget my declaration of war, ok?

—... I won't ...

—Very well, then, there's only one thing I want to ask of you, just as selfish as your request. I hope you grant it.

—Huh? What is it Rui?

—Let me kiss you—he watched Tsukushi blushed more strongly than when the doctor was flattering her and was pleased—as a last remembrance of Hawaii, because I do not want our last memory together being of you getting banged and ending in a hospital. So ... can I?

Tsukushi didn't know what to say, while Rui was speaking he had already cupped her face with one hand and had come so near to almost have to whisper the words. What could she do? She was completely weak to her marble-eyed price. She turned her eyes to his lips, then his eyes and that was enough signal.

Rui put his mouth on hers, she hugged him, trying to get the juice out of that last kiss, because she didn't know when it might be next time, or if there was going to be a next time. He was tender, warm, all that Rui was expressed in a simple moving of lips. However, Tsukushi forgot that he was also a man, and one that loved her deeply. Before letting her go completely, he grasped her tightly to him by the waist and used his hand to tilt her face and licked her mouth causing it to open and gave way to reclaim its heat from the inside with his tongue. Tsukushi began to tremble and sigh while responding to Rui advances, but it did not even last five seconds before Rui left her.

—-This is enough for me ... sorry if I was somewhat rude. I'll be back tomorrow to take you to Japan with the boys. Rest well...

And giving her a soft kiss on the forehead he left, leaving a more than hectic Tsukushi sitting on her bed.

_Calm down_—she told herself—_calm down. This is the best, with this you'll have time and won't make a hasty decision._

Tsukushi opened her suitcase and found the green ring box that Rui had given her and the red box in which was the Saturn necklace that Tsukasa gave her. She put back the ring, look and both jewels and closed the boxes.

_The next time I open one, it will be because my decision is made._

Satisfied with her decision, he got into bed, closed her eyes and tried to sleep.

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><p>(1) Rui, where's Rui?<p>

(2) TOJ: Teen of Japan contest.

**Replies to reviews:**

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**catstop:** I know how you feel catstop, when I read something I like and they leave in the edge I start screaming and all the people around me look at me as if I am crazy or something, thought it doesn't bother me that much, hehe. Thank you so much for reading this fic, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

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**Till the next chapter y'all!**


	6. Arrival to Japan

Greatly apologizing here I come with the latest chapter of my fic, I hope you enjoy it, there's no much action or interaction between the characters but this little background was necesary for the later chapters to come. Thank you very much for reading and for your reviews!

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><p>Rui left the room with a smile, quite satisfied with the final expression of desire he saw in Tsukushi's face, however, he couldn't that he too had missed more time to enjoy the kiss, but did not want to force anything, he already had used the time they had been together in Hawaii, already had obtained a lot from her: kissing, caresses, walks on the beach and ... an amazing night.<p>

_Enough... this will have to suffice for now._

—Rui

The aforementioned turned at the mention of his name and found Soujiro and Akira.

—Yo, what's up?

—I think we are the ones who should ask that—said Soujiro

—Come on, don't start fighting now, let's go back to the hotel and there we can talk in peace.

The three young men went to the luxury SUV that was waiting outside the hospital; they went and told the driver where to take them.

—I never thought you knew how to sneak, Rui—Soujiro started.

—Sneak? I never do things like that. Although to be honest, I expected your men to find me earlier, Akira.

—Hey, hey, we have good men; you were the one going to an impossible place.

—It was not my idea, at first I was going to go to the usual hotel, but Tsukushi believes our families control all the satellites of the planet and chose to go somewhere quieter.

—So exaggerated, not all of them... —Soujiro joked.

—Makino is always pending that we don't find her because she knows that we'll torture her as soon as we do, haha—said Akira.

—But Rui, being serious, what's this about you loving her ...?

— ... and that brought her to Hawaii...?

— ... and that you gave her a ring...?

— ... and that now you call her by name...?

—Calm down, one at a time—he stared at them knowing that they wouldn't stay quiet until he could give an explanation ... and well, they were his friends, at least that he owed them that, like Tsukasa, but his case was different, though he was like his brother, he had left Tsukushi abandoned and he wouldn't forgive that so easily—All right, I'll tell you everything...

It took him the rest of the way to the hotel to update his friends with what had happened, both of them were more than surprised to find out Rui's version, Tsukasa but told them he had thrown Tsukushi out of his mansion and there had been its history until the day he saw them at the airport, now they knew first hand that if Rui had not found her on that the bridge, only God knows what could have happened.

— ...and that was it. You came and the rest is history—Rui had told everything that had happened, of course avoiding some details such as kissing and having slept together and ... other things.

As they went up the elevator to the suite of F4, no one said anything, Rui thought maybe they were processing the information as best as possible, after all, something similar had happened at first, when he still looked like a puppy after Shizuka and had returned defeated from Paris and had taken advantage of knowing that she loved him to steal a kiss...

...

No ... Chances are that even before _he_ had wanted her and had not realized this and therefore had left her go, still not knowing how to decipher what he felt.

They all entered the room and the first to speak was Soujiro...

—Well, now the question is to what this will end. Rui, are you willing to go all the way?

—Yes.

—Ahhh... this will be hard ...I really don't want to be in the midst of all this ...

—You don't have to, or you Akira, this is between Tsukasa, Tsukushi and me.

—Yeah, right… that doesn't mean we will not be involved, after all, we are the F4 ... And let's face it, even Tsukushi is part of the F4—Akira said—Ha, little brat, who say it would be a girl like her the one to infiltrate the head of the members of F4

—A working-class virgin!

—Exactly! That is something that even now I wonder, Soujiro, it seems incredible that she and Tsukasa have not done anything yet...

Rui let them talk about their speculations about the purity of Tsukushi because he couldn't prevent his mind to recall the images of that night and his ears, the sweet moans that came out of her mouth while pronouncing his name...

_...Rui…_

—I think I need cold water.

—Huh? Well, yes, the weather has been warmer than usual. What about going to the pool? There should not be many people at this time

—Good idea, I need to relax after all the trouble they did today. Let's go, Akira, Rui.

The three young men could not cause more commotion in the pool although there were fewer people than in the morning. High, with well-trained bodies, with oriental features, white skin, both local and tourist women were following the movement of the guys that well deserved the right to be in the group of "The 4 Flowers".

Rui went to the water immediately, thanking the calming effect it had on the thoughts in his head at that time, meanwhile, Akira and Soujiro were already taking appointments and phone numbers of a couple of girls on the other side of the pool . Soujiro was the first to approach him while Akira was arranging a meeting with a woman who was easily along 35.

—Ah, this really is life.

—Mmm ...

—Tonight we'll go out with a couple of girls to dance. Rui, wanna come? Sure they have an extra friend over there.

—I'm fine like this, thanks.

—Oh, you don't know how to have some fun.

—And you don't know how to relax—they both laughed and decided to go to the side of the hot water and wait for Akira there. Upon leaving, Soujiro noticed a mark on Rui's right shoulder, in the beginning he didn't care, but then, seeing it more closely, he gasped.

—Ne, Rui...

—Hmm?

—What happened to your shoulder?

—What?

—You have something there

Rui examined his shoulder and found the mark he had discovered the night before while taking a shower. Being with Tsukushi, she had bitten his shoulder hard to keep from screaming and had left a mark. He was not particularly bothered, however he was surprised to feel some satisfaction in that little red and purple spot ... it was like a constant reminder that what happened was not a dream.

—Oh, this ...

—Rui! That is...is...

—...is...?

Soujiro wanted very much to tell him what he thought and was sure it was: a hickey. But how? Besides, the mark was small and he was talking about Tsukushi, the girl who guarded her virginity as if it were necessary to live. Rui's tranquility was making him hesitate and he didn't want to strike the air by saying something he shouldn't.

—... Come on, don't tell me you don't know. Did you have fun with a girl and still bear the marks of passion in your body?

The question came in a double sense, Rui let out a soft laugh but said nothing more, he didn't want to lie to Soujiro, but neither wanted to tell something that was not of his concern.

—Hey!—Akira had arrived breaking the awkward silence—Tonight don't wait up for me, I have an appointment with a muse of Parnassus itself...

—I'm going to dry myself, I'm a little tired. I'll wait upstairs.

—Sure, sure, hey Soujiro, we will accompany you and that girl until ... Hey ... are you listening?

—What? Ah, yes, we can go together and then we parted at a certain time.

—What is it?

—It's nothing, maybe it's as Rui says and I'm tired.

— You definitely won't cancel at this time!

—Are you crazy? Where do you think my pride Casanova would be if I did?

—Haha, that's my friend

Akira relaxed at his side while Soujiro was thinking about the Rui's response.

_He didn't really say anything, but Rui's not one to go and do that sort of thing, unless he is serious about doing it ... Is it possible? Perhaps these two...?_

—Oe, Soujiro! Do you really feel good, bro? You seem to be in another world

—Huh? Yes, yes, I'm fine, I think is the hot water, I'm getting dizzy; we better go fix ourselves up.

—Yes, you're right, spending too much time here is not good, come on.

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—Is he ready?

—Yes, President.

—Perfect, I don't want him to escape again; we still have much to do, it's fortunate that there has been no scandal because of this. Where do they say he was?

—In Hawaii, President. He was found at a local clinic...

—Clinic?

—It seems that Ms. Makino was there.

—And what did that lowlife was doing there?

—Well, it seems that after her stay in New York, she and the young Hanazawa went together to Hawaii. For what one man said, it seems that Ms. Makino was yelling something to the young master before they arrived. The rest of F4 was also there, everything indicates that they did not know where to find the lady and used every means possible to find her... ehmm, she didn't sought the young master this time ...

—Silence!

—...

—So now she has caught on to Hanazawa-san. Ja, cheeky girl ... but this could be beneficial, I don't care who her target is as long as Tsukasa is left in peace. Very well ...I'll talk to him...

Doumyouji Kaede was a hardcore woman and as soon as she saw she could turn the table in her favor, she didn't hesitate to put her plan into action. She was in the middle of the passage of her son's room and already from there she could hear the screams.

—... Let me out! Who do you think you are! I'll rip you to pieces as soon as I see you! Open the god damn door!

—Everything in order?

—Oh, President. Good night—four black men dressed formally greeted her—Yes, so far he has not stopped screaming but has not scape. The windows have been reinforced as well.

—Very well. Now which of you is the one who says he heard the girl screaming in the clinic?

—Ahh... ah...That would be me, Madam President.

—Well? What was she saying?

—I didn't hear the whole conversation, madam, but she was yelling something like he did not have the right to tell her what she could and could not do ... Oh, and that she didn't want more pressure from anyone. Young Hanazawa was also in the room. The young masters Nishikado and Mimasaka were out at that time.

—All right, good job. Now open the door

—Hai!

Tsukasa had not stopped screaming all that time and had not heard the voice of his mother out of his room, so he was surprised when he realized that they were beginning to take the locks out of his room. When the door opened he saw the President of the Doumyouji Corporation and felt disgust.

—What do you want!

—Now, Tsukasa, I acknowledge that I have not been flexible in recent days and I am willing to correct my mistake.

This took the boy by surprise. He had never thought to hear those words come from the lips of his mother. She, saying he would do anything for him?

—Talk directly-old witch, what are you planning? You wouldn't do anything for me unless it meant a long-term benefit for you.

—Don't say something like that. I know you went to Hawaii with your friends from F4 and I guess it was because I've been keeping you confined for too long, after all, you fulfill your word in throwing that Makino girl out of the house and have done what I asked you. I'll leave you a little more freedom from today on and, if you want, you can return to school ... But don't do anything that will make me re-lock you up, because I will. That's it.

—Didn't they tell you...?

—Hmm? Tell me what?

—No, nothing. All right. I'll return to school.

_It seems that they didn't tell her that Makino was there, after all these guys are new and don't know her ... Good! Being back at school will make recover her easy._

Tsukasa still didn't know that his greatest enemy wasn't going to be his mother, but himself.

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Tsukushi had finished brushing her teeth and was returning to the room when she saw her surgeon, NakoyamaTetsuya.

—Good morning, Tsukushi-chan.

—Good morning, Nakoyama-sensei.

—Ahh, you know you can call me Tetsuya.

Tsukushi blushed slightly.

—So you're leaving today.

—Yes, they should be coming to pick me up soon.

—You don't have your ring today?

She automatically hid her right hand on her back but that didn't prevent Tetsuya to see the obvious.

—Mmm ... no, I put it away to bathe.

—And which of those two pretty guys is your boyfriend?

—Etto ... well ... none really.

—Really? Then I can buy you breakfast before you go.

—I wouldn't feel very comfortable with that, besides, they're coming soon.

—I don't bite... —he said as he approached her.

—But I do—she said seriously. Tetsuya looked at her face for a moment and then started to laugh—what now?

—Ah, Tsukushi-chan, I knew you were not an ordinary girl ... I really like you know? If only you weren't so confused with those two I'll ask you out seriously.

—C-Confused?

—Come on, yesterday there was a heavy and uncomfortable environment over you three, who did not notice it because he is blind—Tsukushi remain silent—Hey, don't worry, everyone at some point have been confused, you just have to think with the head instead of the heart in times like these.

—But it is not easy—she replied in a whisper.

—No, it is not. But it is the best option.

—How do I do it? Really now, I'm a mess, I can't, I just want to be alone ...

—That too is good choice, time for you. Just think about it ... With whom do you feel calm and at ease? With whom can you talk at length or in any case, simply remain silent without it becoming unbearable? There are many questions you can ask yourself and answer honestly without involving your emotions. It's hard, but it is the best solution...

—It's pretty hard ... but still, I appreciate it Nakoya-no. Tetsuya-san.

—Hey, that's why doctors are for, not only to heal the body but also from time to time to heal the soul.

—Tsukushi, you awake? —Rui's voice was heard on the other side of the door.

—Yes, come on in.

—Oh, Nakoyama-sensei. Good morning, thank you again all that you've done for us.

—There's nothing to be thankful I did it gladly. Well Tsukushi, I think this is our farewell—he said, holding out his hand.

—Yes. And again, thank you very much— she shook his hand and made a little bow in gratitude. Rui came in and the Dr. was heading out for the exit, but as Tetsuya was not one to stay with what he thought inside of him, he stopped for a few seconds.

—Ah, Tsukushi, if at any time you feel alone, do not hesitate to call me, I'll be more than happy to offer consolation—and winking at her, he left the room. Rui and was surprised and even more when he saw Tsukushi rolling her eyes and smiling halfway to that comment.

—How do you feel?

—Much better, thank you.

—Well, the guys are outside, within two hours we leave for Japan. Ready for reality?

—Not one little bit—she said with a smile.

It was good for Tsukushi that none of the young boys made questions about her sudden journey and his unusual companion to it, by contrast, they were mortifying as her usual to hang out, they were even offering makeup to put on the gauze on her face and it was there that she couldn't take the laughter anymore and exploded causing them to be relieved to see her as always, a weed ready to face any kind of adversity, they really couldn't deny it, she was a part of them. However, Soujiro had been attentive to Tsukushi a little more than usual, her face looked the same; maybe a bit more… lighten up? He could not define with certainty ... He knew that a woman changed when losing her virginity: The eyes were not the same, the innocent look they used to have was lost in a small fire in the depths of their souls at the discover of something new in their bodies, but her…she didn't seem to have made that change yet; she looked different, not to the point of having given a 180 ° full turn, even the way of speaking to Rui was just a little more affectionate than usual if he took into account that now both were calling themselves by name.

He decided it was better to observe from afar.

Upon landing in Japan there was no one waiting for them, as Tsukushi had asked the boys as she preferred to address the questions that were about to fall upon her bit by bit. Rui, true to his promise, put her in a car of his family but did not accompany her home, saying goodbye with a "Take care" without even shaking hands or touching her shoulder. After she left in the car, the three men returned to their homes; Rui came to be received by its usual reliable staff and to the astonishment of all, he came giving gifts of small tikis, pens with feathers and pictures with decorative flowers. It wasn't that Rui didn't take presents after a trip, the strange thing was that he himself was distributing to each one of the employees explaining what each particular thing was.

—Well, there's more on missing bag for the ones who are missing, Sanae-san ...

—Yes, young master—a woman old enough to be his grandmother with a kindly face approached Rui.

—Please see that the rest also receive their share.

—Of course, young master.

Rui left the room among the heated whispers of the staff.

—The young master is different, right?

—Yes, definitely. But I don't see him bad, on the contrary, it looks like he is ... happy?

—It's been a long time since I saw him smile ...

—Only when Ms. Shizuka came could you see him smiling like that…

—Well, well—Sanae-san interrupted— enough of gossip. Put away your presents and return to work soon, remember that today we must make a good dinner.

—That's true, Sanae-san. By the way, did you tell young master that his parents have returned from abroad?

—Oh my God! With all the excitement, I forgot!

And it was true, Rui's parents had returned from a long business trip.

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Hanazawa Riku was the current president of the company in charge of shipping issues, customs; Hanazawa Corp. was the market leader in everything that had to do related to exports and imports of inputs. Riku was strict man, hard, cold, due to the strict instruction he received from his birth to be the next successor of the company; however, it was a girl who worked as a secretary in one of the dealerships in his company who had left him deeply impressed from the first moment she greeted him: Hikari Mogami.

Hikari was a girl from a family of normal position, without many or few luxuries she was the kind of person who drew in the rest because of the aura that floating around her and Riku was no exception. It was long before he will be encouraged to talk to her in friendly terms beyond the employer-employee relationship and she took it is such a good way that he was becoming more and more in love with her.

But herein is the problem, Hikari Mogami was a nobody, just another girl seeking to secure her future by offering herself to the president of company, those were the exact words of Riku's mother and forced him away from her, she came to the extreme of moving the girl to another dealership and sending him abroad to take over the family business.

Riku went for almost 2 years working every day to avoid thinking, parties and women did not lack, but still he didn't forget the light that Hikari seemed to give of every time she gave him a "Good morning" in the office ... 2 years and still he could not shake the memory of his head. When he finally returned to Japan to continue with various projects, how great was his surprise to see Hikari beside his mother as her personal assistant.

_"Her current assistant is on maternity leave and someone in the office recommended me. I really hope to be of help to your mother, Hanazawa-san. "_

Hanazawa Mao, the mother of Riku, very reluctantly had to acknowledge the ability of the young girl to take on the most problematic issues with which she had to deal with every day and could see the sincerity with which she talked and her great maturity. Unwittingly, Hikari won the confidence and affection of the mother of Riku slowly, month by month, since Mao retained his side for an entire year.

After many conversations and discussions, Mao gave his blessing to his son to marry the girl of brown eyes. There was no happiest couple in the world at that time, the wedding was great, the honeymoon, spectacular, no one could deny the love that was in the air around those two, but happiness cannot always be present, since this world seems to require an equal balance of sadness and it came to bill Hikari the day when she became pregnant for the first time.

Riku had to endure seeing his wife fall slowly into depression over the years, her body was weak and each pregnancy she had resulted in abortion, even with the best of cares, taking the most expensive pills and visiting the most famous doctors the result was always was the same: a large pool of blood.

Hikari was shattered; all the love she wanted to pour into her belly seemed to pass through a mortal strainer. Seven times she had to suffer the same result in order to give up.

_"Maybe this is not my fate, Riku. I am so sorry, I have failed you as a wife, I can't give you an heir"_

Riku cared little for the heir at that time and decided it was time to stop, to rest, to just pull Hikari's head out of all the sadness that she had been building and he took her a trip around the world to achieve his goal. They visited France, Italy, Brazil, Peru, Mexico and finally the United States, they never imagined that on a visit to a family of Indian descent, they would find the answer they'd been looking for. After a lovely evening, an elderly woman who had not spoken all afternoon approached Hikari and said something that either of them ever forgot.

_"Your body is resentful with you, you've beaten it so much with that so called 'modern medicine' that it doesn't to hear you anymore. Reconcile with it if you want to load a fruit within you, go to the creek that is on the edge of the forest in the next full moon and bathe naked and ask forgiveness…It will listen to you if you do it with your heart. "_

That said, she closed the door leaving them speechless. Riku said were lies, idle talk of the old, but Hikari thought differently. Could it be true everything that old woman had told her? The next full moon would come in just 4 days and she found a way to convince her husband to stay another week, then, one early morning when Riku was fast asleep after a party filled with alcohol, Hikari sneaked out to the mentioned stream and taking off her clothes, she soaked in it.

_"I am sorry for not listening to you! I promise not to mistreat you again: alcohol is not swimming in my veins, there is no nicotine stuck in my lungs, my goal is to take care of me to conceive the child I so much desire. Moon, hear my plea! "_

Hikari had been raised believer in the power of the universe and the nature over humans so being there, soaking wet and surrounded by trees, wildflowers and the starry sky made her go back to what she had dear so many years ago and there she promised, whether she had or not the son she craved for, to never forget it again.

Riku got up and found his wife sleeping peacefully beside him, her face relaxed, not even suspecting that a few hours earlier she had not been lying at his side, and seeing her waking up he again felt very fortunate to have her at his side, because she wasn't bitch who only wanted him for their money and position, and saying that he loved her he passionately kissed her and held her as so many times before, knowing that he would never get tired of it.

The surprise came two weeks after when they arrived to Japan, they were off the plane, had taken two steps to get away from the ladder and Hikari fainted. Riku was afraid, for he tried to make her react, but she didn't. She was taken to the doctor and they had her stayed overnight for observation. When he finally saw her, he was surprised to find her radiant, with a big smile on her face and very happy, obviously he didn't understand. Upon entering the doctor told him his wife was pregnant and the world came over Riku. He didn't know what to do, he couldn't let Hikari pass again for the same pain that had taken her so long to leave behind, but she took his face and staring intently at his eyes she said:

_"—Everything is fine, this baby will be fine, I'll be fine._

—_But Hikari ..._

—_You'll see, you'll see that this time will be different"_

His wife spoke with such conviction that he didn't dare to ask her to operate before losing it, but it was good that he didn't, since with the passing months, for the first time, he could admire the beautiful half round formation on his wife's body. But it wasn't easy, Hikari had to get plenty of rest because sometimes high fevers attacked her, plus, she declined to take any pills and waited like that the almost 9 months of gestation that took her son to come into the world with a loud and clear cry.

Everyone celebrated the birth of the successor of the company: Hanazawa Rui was born...

... but, at a high price.

In the midst of labor, Hikari suffered a very large hemorrhage and the doctors had to cauterize a fallopian tube, making it impossible for her to have children again in the future. Hikari felt sad, but decided that it was fine, that having that perfect, healthy baby in her arms sucking milk out of her chest had been worthwhile.

However, though her greatest desire was to be with her child in these so important early years, she couldn't. The acquisition of two companies for Hanazawa Corp. was imminent, and all hands would be needed to do it, Mao told her that her son would be in good hands, that she would hire the best tutors for him and would not have to worry about him. Rui was just four years old when this happened. The constant lack of his parents and the strict life he carried with different tutors made him an introverted child, quiet, almost autistic.

The few times that Hikari had managed to return home, her soul would break upon seeing her child didn't jump and run to her arms and not fill her with kisses, Riku also suffered a lot, because though he was a hard and rigid man, he loved her son and hated to see he had become so because of their business, which is why he hired several specialists and psychologists to help him open up a bit more, but instead of helping, this made it worse.

The only thing that had reassured them it was that their friends from other families have made their children join with Rui and thus, unwittingly, those children became best friends: Nishikado Soujiro, Akira Mimasaka and Doumyouji Tsukasa, the latter was like a brother to Rui from the beginning and, of course, the arrival of the Toudo heiress, Shizuka, had returned to Rui the life that seemed lost somewhere inside of him.

Hikari find peace in knowing that her son had friends with whom he could talk to about things he never told her, at home Rui never misbehaved, never came late and never asked for more money than they monthly gave him ... While that was the dream of most women who have teenagers, Hikari was almost asking for trouble to be able to help Rui, to fulfill the role of a mother who put him aside in his most tender years.

So now, after almost five months away from home she had decided not to work anymore, she had talked with Riku about it and he thought it was pretty good, even after much discussion with his mother he got a half approval and Hikari would be allowed to do work that could keep her at home.

Happy with the good news, Hikari had finished taking a long bath and went out to see how dinner was. How great was her surprise when she turned to one of the halls of her home and came face to face with the person she wanted to see the most...

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—Rui ... son ...

—Mother?

The woman came quickly to him and gave him a big hug.

—I really missed you!

—It's good to have mother back home.

—Let me see you...

Hikari was surprised at the sight before her: although he was somewhat more grown up than last time, this was not what caught her attention, if not his eyes, something in them was more…living? She didn't know how to define it exactly, but even a small smile seemed to wander on his lips.

—You've changed...

—Do you think so?

—Yes, I'm not sure what it is, but ... I have a feeling it makes you well, whatever it may be...

_Whoever it may be—_Rui thought_._

—I'm fine, mother, I was out for a few days, I traveled to Hawaii with a ... some friends, with the F4._ —_It was not that Rui didn't want to talk to his mother about Tsukushi, but now he couldn't afford to introduce her, not when the last thing she had requested was time to be alone.

—I'm so happy for you, son. Your father is in the studio, we hope to dinner together today. In fact, businesses are going pretty well ... it seems that we won't have to travel as much as usual ... at least I will not go out and travel, I will work from home and help your father and grandmother as much as I can. I want to be here more...

—It's good to hear that, mother. I will go change to...—Suddenly, a soft melody rang, it was Rui's cell and Hikari was surprised again to the joy that lay behind the long lashes of her child and the tenderness of his voice to answer.

—You arrived soon—he said with a smile.

—_Um... I'm putting things in order. Just wanted to call to tell you that I got well and ... that I really appreciate all the time in Hawaii, Rui._

—I told you did not have to thank me, but I think my threat to bring you back to Japan must not have much effect now.

—I think not ... haha.

—Rest now.

—Actually, I first have thought to go see Yuuki. I have not yet met with Shigeru and ... I hope to do it tomorrow at school.

—Yes, that may be best. I'll maybe see you tomorrow then.

—Of course. See you.

—Take care ... —and smiling again, he closed the phone.

—Son? ...

—Oh, I'm sorry mother, I wanted to ensure that a person had arrived safely. I will go change now, with your permission—and saying this, he went to his room to change clothes.

A mother is a mother, and although she had not been much time next to his only son, Hikari knew something had changed, Rui wasn't like this, and it wasn't that this change was not bothering her, but it aroused great curiosity.

Who was it at the other side of the line?

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—Tsukushi!

—Yuuki...

The two friends embraced in the middle of the Dango store while a few tears scaped from Yuuki's eyes.

—But what happened to your face! You had an accident! Where have you been all this time! Not a single call! Not a single message!

—Sorry, I really am sorry, Yuuki, so many things happened, the truth is I needed to get away from everything. Forgive me.

—Fool, you're a fool! Did you also had to leave me out?

—Sorry, Yuuki...

Both girls kept their hug a little longer and then the store owner came out to greet, she also slightly scolded Tsukushi for leaving without notice for so long, but welcomed her as ever to continue working if she still wanted.

—But of course I want to, thank you for being so kind to me.

—Don't worry, I guess you have some compelling reason, but now you definitely have a better face, you look... well; out of this huge gauze on your face, obviously.

—Haha, I know ... I also feel good...

—But tell me, Tsukushi— Yuuki said said once the owner was out to the back of the store—What has happened all this time?

Tsukushi took a deep breath and began to tell her the whole story. Yuuki was her best friend and she didn't want to hide anything, but even so, it was somewhat difficult to tell what had happened: She started telling her arrival to New York, how Tsukasa threw her out from his mansion, meeting with Rui... when she said he had confessed, Yuuki was very surprised, but Tsukushi asked her not to interrupt, to please let her finish to tell all...

After 20 minutes of talking, Yuuki was speechless.

— ... and after calling him I came here. That's it.

—...

—... Yuuki?

—You and Hanazawa-san ... almost did it?

—Well ... yes.

—And he gave you a ring?

—Yes ...

—And he told you he loves you?

—Yes ...

—And went there to save you after Doumyouji-san left you alone?

—Yes ...

—Wow ... girl, it's really complicated. I mean, you love Doumyouji, I know, but ... what now?

—I don't know, Yuuki, that's why I asked them both to leave me alone for a while, I cannot decide because Doumyouji has put me through a lot, good and bad, but this last one, for me it's the straw that broke the glass, but by no means I can throw into oblivion all that we struggle to be together; and Rui...

—... now you call him by name ...

—... Yes, it was something that also changed the days we were in Hawaii. The truth is that Rui is my first love, I thought that any feeling of that kind had been transformed into caring and friendship, but I was wrong, I like him, a lot ...Yuuki... what do I do?

—I don't know, Tsukushi, the truth is that I don't usually have much luck with the guys, after what happened with Nishikado-san, I'm not sure if it's so easy to give my heart to someone else ...

—Is that why you've cut your hair?

—Oh, well, actually a friend from school told me that the best thing after a heartbreak was a new look and ... there you go. Does it look bad?

—No, on the contrary, I think you look good—she said with a smile—then ...about Nishikado…

—After that day on the roof I have not seen him and now I know that these past few days he was with you, but it's fine, really it's all good, Tsukushi, not seeing him helped me to heal.

—Good for you, you know if you need anything, you just have to tell me, I'm sorry that I was not here when you needed me the most.

—No problem, you went to find what you wanted and that's always been you.

—Good afternoon!—A voice came from the door. Tsukushi and Yuuki turned to see none other than Soujiro followed by Akira.

—Oh, Makino, you arrived earlier that I thought.

—What?

—We thought maybe you'd be too tired to go out and we came to tell Yuuki you were already in Japan and we were going to offer her a ride to your home. What's up, Yuuki-chan? —Akira asked.

—Very well, thank you.

—Hello—greeted Soujiro.

—Time has passed, Nishikado-san.

—Yes, definitely. Do you have a second?

—Of course.

Soujiro took her to the side of the cashier, somewhat away from the table where Tsukushi and Akira were talking.

—I have not seen you since that day on the roof, and truth is it was not long after I started thinking about how many buildings you've had to visit. There must have been too many.

—No, they weren't that many...

—Thank you, Yuuki. Thanks to you I close a chapter not very nice in my life. Just saying thank you seems inadequate; if there is anything I can do for you in return, just tell me.

—Etto…I'm fine like this. Thank you.

—Really? It might even give you that complete course you once asked me.

—WHAAAT!

—Haha, just kidding ...

-Nishikado-san, you don't change...

—By the way, that cut suits you very well.

—Ah, well, thank you very much—she said with a slight blush on the cheeks. While Soujiro still made her heart skip a beat, she now felt more relaxed, not like before ... Perhaps, she had managed to grow a little.

—Excuse me! Ah, Yuuki-chan...

—Narumiya-kun!

A guy of Yuuki's age had entered the store, tall, handsome and with very beautiful blue eyes. Yuuki walked away from Soujiro to go to say hello.

—How are you today?

—Happy, very happy—she replied with a smile.

—I see that... And to what is due your happiness?

—You remember I talked to you about my best friend? Today she has returned…Let me introduce her to you...Tsukushi!

—Yes?

—He is Narumiya Ryunosuke, he has been transferred to my school this month and lives near here. He has become a regular customer of the store.

—Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you.

—Me too, my name is Makino Tsukushi.

—I know, Yuuki-chan always talks a lot about you, it is good to see you are together again.

—Oh, and they are Mimasaka-san and Nishikado-san—Yuuki him when she saw Soujiro had come to the table to see who was the stranger who had entered—they go to the Eitoku with Tsukushi.

—Nishikado and Mimasaka! You guys are part of F4?

—Exactly, I'm Mimasaka Akira, a pleasure.

—Same here, same here.

And this guy over here is Nishikado Soujiro—Akira said nudging his friend who didn't seem very happy.

Ryunosuke held out his hand but Soujiro took a couple of seconds longer than normal to answer the greeting and did it very quickly. There was an awkward silence floating in the air.

—Came to buy something, Narumiya-kun?

—Ah, yes. My mom wants of those desserts that you gave me last weekend, it looks like an aunt comes and she wants to surprise her with something sweet.

—Of course, here I have one of those. Come with me.

Both youngsters went away talking pleasantly with each other, occasionally Tsukushi could see that Yuuki blushed slightly to a comment from Ryunosuke and that he looked at her with an expression quite affectionate. After Yuuki wrapped candy for him, he came to say goodbye.

—It was a pleasure to have met you all. Makino-san, I hope you recover soon.

—Yes, thank you.

—Well, Yuuki-chan. I have to go, but before I forget, I wanted to ask, have you ever seen the tea ceremony?

All were silent at the sudden question he made to Yuuki, especially because he had done in front of everyone.

—Etto...well—Yuuki gave a quick glance to where Soujiro was but didn't make eye contact with him—yes, I know someone who is very good preparing tea.

—Ah then, well, this weekend my mother says there will be a kind of show in which many recognized people of the tea ceremony and flower arranging world will attend. If you have nothing to do, would you like to come?

—Huh...?

—Actually I was thinking of inviting you since before because every time you talked about your friend…you became sad.

—Ah, yes... well, that's true.

—First see if you have something to do that day and if you're free, I'd like you to accompany me. See you, Yuuki-chan—and saying that, the young man gave a final nod to the rest of them and went out into the street.

—Yes, of course ... until then.

—Wow, Yuuki-chan, I didn't know you had a boyfriend—Akira began to tease her.

—He is not my boyfriend!

—But he was very interested in dating you. Right, Makino?

—Well, what I can tell you, the way that guy looks at you...

—Tsukushi! You too?

—Haha, sorry, sorry ... Although you can't deny he has very striking eyes. Where is he from?

—His mother is American descent and her father is Japanese ...

—Well, he does have interesting eyes Right, Soujiro? —Akira asked, but the boy made no comment about it.

—Well, I came to take you to see Makino but seeing that she is here I think my visit was useless. See you later.

And with that, he left

—What happened to him? —Akira asked.

—No idea, how strange for Nishikado to behave like that—said Tsukushi.

—You're right. Maybe he has something to do and did not have much time—ended Yuuki.

—But it was his idea to come for you, I don't understand.

None of those present paid much importance to this last fact and eating some dumplings they talked about everything and nothing going on pleasantly in the evening, no one suspected that at the time a small thorn was constantly bothering the inside the young heir of the Nishikado family.


	7. A couple of western breakfasts

**Helloooooooooooooooooooooooo ladies!**  
><strong>You probably thought that I wasn't going to continue this story...BUT! I'm here, revived, like a phoneix from its ashes (so dramatic, I know...¬¬)<strong>  
><strong>I was really busy, my studies didn't go that well, my money went down, my work went up and life goes on...but I still want to continue this fic if there's at least one person that enjoys it. I thank to all of the people that left me a review or a PM and those who read and don't leave anything behind, thank you too. <strong>

**I specially thank Riley cullen, nyrac and Jenny Lie, reading your reviews girls, make my head go spinning! **  
><strong>Well, no more chatting, this is the newest chapter of the story, just so you know, there's no much action in this chapter as well because is neccesary for the development coming on...<strong>

**Thank you for your support!**

* * *

><p>It was a new day, but not a very nice one. Tsukushi's had a great time the previous day talking about everything with Yuuki and laughing at the antics of Akira, but truth was, that her face hurt, and even though she got home to take the pills that had been prescribed, sleeping had been a torture, because every time she rose up worried that she might be lying over her injury. Now the sun was out and she was stressed and sored because of the previous night. It was bad enough that she had to wash, treat the wound with cream and put new gauze. Worse, she discovered that there was nothing to eat now. Much worse: leaving her house and found a car of the year, late model, totally luxurious with Shigeru inside.<p>

—¡Tsukushi-chaaaaan!

—Shigeru! What are you doing here? How...?

—Oh, yesterday I called Mimasaka-san and he said you were already here and, obviously, I came to get you to take you to school!

—Ah ... well, you shouldn't have bothered, really...

—Get in before we're late!

The truth was that Tsukushi didn't want to see her yet, she had not been able to prepare exactly what she was going to tell her about Tsukasa and frankly, she didn't intend to think about it yet.

—But what happened to your face!

—It's ... a long history, truth is...

—But are youok?You have the face marked!

—Yes, I saw a doctor...

—I imagine it must have been the best of New York right?

—Ehhh...

—And tell me, what did the artichoke head said when he saw you?

—Mmm ... well...

—Don't tell me, I'm sure he jumped up and down all excited to see you there...

—Actually...

—Ah, but it's true that his mother was there, right?

—Yes, she was...

—Then it must've been difficult, but the good thing is that you two are together!

—Shigeru, the truth is that...

—Oh, here we are!

—So fast?

—Of course, I even think my driver was delayed a bit. I regret not having more time to talk to you Tsukushi, but I'll find you later to grab something to eat, all right? I'll call Yuuki too!

And while saying each of these things, she got her outthe car, put her backpack, gave her a big hug, got in again and went away, leaving no option to tell the harsh reality. She stood watching as the car moved away and murmured to herself:

—Forgive me, Shigeru ... Doumyouji and I ... no longer...

—But look who is back!

Tsukushi turned to see the person from whom she was sure was the voice, and she was right, it was Yuriko with her inseparable friends Erika and Minako

—We thought you had already withdrawn from school, bimboni...

—Yes, we have been much better without you, it would be better if you left forever

—But what's on your face? Hahahahaha ... you sure got what you deserve

—Silence!—The three girls were quiet at once to see the gaze full of rage of Tsukushi—I haven't had a good morning so I really have no intention of listening to your crap!Make way!

And almost pushing them, sheheaded toward the school entrance. It had been a week since she had left and had to catch up with many things. As she thought about what to do to retrieve notes and papers, she heard an engine in the distance, approaching at full speed. The car was parked right in front of her followed by another equally or more luxurious. Tsukushi wondered who would be the person to parkin such an unconscious manner when she was obviouslycrossing. A window came down and she saw that none other than Tsukasa, her eyes opened in surprise.

—Get in.

—What?

—Are you deaf? I'm telling you to get in.

—Doumyouji, I'm sorry but I can't, I don't want to be late to class and I've missed quite of them, besides-hey! What are you doing!Let me go!—While she had been talking to two men who were surely Tsukasa's security guards had taken her from each arm and raisedher to take her to another car.

—I didn't_ask_ you, I _told_ you get in. Look for follow us—he finished saying his men closing up the window.

—Doumyouji! Doumyouji! Make these men let me go! Who do you think you are!Please! Can't we do this after school? Doumyouji! Ah!—a pang in her face forced her to remain silent; she had cried out loud too much and had caused the wound to hurt. She struggled all he could, but was unable to free herself and was dragged into an elegant vehicle.

Throughout the journey no one spoke, it seemed incredible to Tsukushi that Tsukasa were at school after saying he had retired, and was still concerned about her classes as she could not afford to lose more, few were those who wanted her in that school and she couldn't fail, eitherherself or her parents.

After half an hour by his watch, Tsukushi began to grow desperate, the trip didn't appear to be coming to an end soon and even though she asked the security that was with her in the car, the two men looked like a pair of robots that were not willing to answer her. All her life, Tsukushi had been a wild herb, a woman who didn't bend at all, living the everydayunder the moral rules which she had formed. Yes, she was strong. But after a broken heart, no one can be asked to remain the same, and although all she wanted then was to give good beating to Tsukasa, she knew she couldn't, and verbally fighting with him would frankly leave her exhausted and wouldn't lead anywhere; in some way or another, he would see how to get away with it, as he had done so often before.

_I'm tired of this, over and over again the same, the same ... I don't care anymore._

She felt the car slowing down the speed; the two men began to move, but she didn't give any signs to have noticed any of these events. The door on the right opened and a driver bowed waiting for her to get out, but she didn't.

—But what is she waiting for? —she heard Tsukasa's voice approaching—Come on, get out—Tsukushi got out and stood beside him. Tsukasa sighed and walked towards what looked like a small house, but he felt that nobody was following him and it was true, Tsukushi had not moved an inch. He was beginning to despair—Come here! —Then she began to follow him, and it was like that, order after order, until they came inside the restaurant and he had to sit her in front of a large table laid out with a great breakfast. There was everything: coffee, tea, milk, butter croissants, bread, pancakes, honey, fresh fruit of all kinds, mineral water, cream cheese, in short, everything one could imagine for a western breakfast. Tsukushi, however, noted only two things when she entered: first, the wall clock told her that two hours had passed since she had been kidnapped her at school and, second, there was absolutely no one other than the local staff.

Tsukasa and she were being served by waiters who put in front of them whatever they ordered, in Tsukushi's case, the waiter provided her with what Tsukasa said as she said nothing at all.

—Eat, for the noise your stomach's making I know you haven't eat anything—Tsukushi just kept her face turned slightly to the side with a lost gaze without touching the food. That was the straw that broke the camel for Tsukasa—Can you tell me what the hell is wrong with you!I bring you here to eat, so we can talk to the comfort of knowing that we are not going to be interrupted and you look like you were a doll!

—Isn't this what you wanted?

—What?

—A doll—she answeredlooking at him for the first time since they arrived at the restaurant.

—Have you become mad? This is not you!

—And how am I?

—Well ... I don't know! You fight and talk and contradict me and you defend yourself and ...!

—What do I gain in doing that again? Every time I do it all you do is ignore it and end up doing things your way

— That's not true!

—Oh really? Let me remind you a few: you kidnapped me and I put an expensive a dress and makeup on me, happily waiting that I'll agree to date you, you gave me a slap, you kissed me by force andtouched me without my permission in a hallway at school, you got me into a plane without asking me anything, I can continue to say one after another all day long...

Tsukasa remained cold at her remarks, but undaunted

—So now you plan to throw to my face all the bad things I've done?

—No, I'm just saying that your character ends up being explosive and illogical. Besides, I myself have done too impulsive and senseless nonsense many times. What I said was to prove my point.

—Is that why you're not eating?

—No, I'm not eating because I don't want to. Tell me something, this interests me. Do you know what I want, Doumyouji?

—W-Well ... mmm...

-I figured, that's because you never listen. What I want now is to be in class, because if I keep missing...

—That is settled, all I have to do is talk with teachers to...

—No! I don't want to do that, I want to be in that school because I deserve it, not because some rich kidmeddle his nose in my business, no offense.

—I don't understand you, making such a fuss about missing a day of classes

—That's because it's not just a day, it's almost a week I was out...

—Yes, out in Hawaii right?

Suddenly the atmosphere became tense, Tsukushi had wanted to avoid the issue by deciding not to speak first, but it was too late.

—Yes...

—And with Rui

—...

—I never thought you were capable of something like that, although, you did something similar the time we went to the beach, if I remember correctly...

—I don't allow you to speak to me like that—she claimed gazing coldly at him—Take it back!

—Why would I if it is the truth?

—You don't know what happened on the beach!Besides, you just decide to throw your feelings at me without even asking if I felt the same! You didn't push me at the end, true, you told me you'll wait for my answer, but you must admit it Doumyouji... Deep down you knew I had feelings for Rui, all F4 knew...

—SHUT UP!

—...however, I also felt something for you. As stupid and unbelievable as it was even for myself, I felt something for you, but I was confused, Rui was my first love and to see him so weak and sad made me want to be there for him, that's why I went to the beach without saying anything, because I couldn't bear to see him alone. The kiss was my fault; maybe I should have refused, but at that moment I didn't care, if I have known how I would feel after that maybe I wouldn't have done it. To see you as I saw you, hurt me deeply, more than that I allowed me to admit. The rest of what happened between us is a long history Doumyouji, but the truth is that I fell for you; I really fell in love with you.

—So...

—But you hurt me, you hurt me so deeply that I don't know if it can really let this go overlooked, regardless of who was behind things, who forced you, you hurt me ...

—And that's why you ran into Rui's arms!

—Yes, that's why—Tsukasa was surprised that she admitted to it—because I was sick of everything and he told me there was nothing wrong in running, escaping. You have no idea Doumyouji, of how many times have been those that Rui was by my side helping me when you hurt me or I did something stupid to get away from you, he was the one by my side giving me strength so I wouldn't give up to what I felt for you, he was always on our side.

—It doesn't seem like it to me

—But it's true, at one point I thought I had forgotten that first love, that... peace I could go to if I was feeling sad. I even confessed my feelings directly to Rui for once, just to get it off my chest, he said he already knew and that was it. I was happy with you, I felt complete, just being around you caused my heart to beat uncontrollably and sometimes the mere fact of looking at you was enough to make me blush.

—Makino...—Tsukasa tried to hold her hand, but she didn't let him

—Don't, is not the same for us, not anymore.

—I don't understand…I don't understand what the hell must have happened between you two so that now you are confused and want to break up and get away!But just so you know, I will not accept it!

—It happened that he was there, again, closing my wounds!, and this time it was he who confessed his feelings, and I being so vulnerable as I was, falter and received with open arms that love he gave me.

—Received with open...? Makino, tell me the truth. What happened between you in Hawaii?

—... Nothing, what would happen?

—Don't lie! You slept together one room! Did he hug you? Did he kiss you? What did he do to you?

—If he did something to me or not is my business!

—You're a...!

—Careful with what you're about to say, Doumyouji!

Tsukasa was completely angry, he didn't know where to direct his anger and most because he had no evidence that anything had happened except the fact that they slept in the same room. And even though his instinct was right, it didn't matter, as Tsukushi wasn't going to talk about those things with him.

—If you must know, Rui was a gentleman during the time we were in Hawaii, that should be enough—it obviously wasn't.

—Ha! Do not make me laugh ...He gave you a ring; I think that leaves his intentions quite clear.

Tsukushi couldn't help blushing to that fact and the memories of that day flowed unintentionally to her mind, the words of Rui when he gave her the ring

_"This ... is my declaration of war"_

Her reaction did not escape Tsukasa, who once again flew into a rage and started screaming

—And surely that was more than enough to melt the lady on the spot! Does anyone who comes with a ring could make you fall in love with him so easily!

—No!But anyone who would come to give me love after being kicked like a dog by my boyfriend would also receive love from me!

—I told you why I had to do it!

—And what does that mean!That every time your mother threatens you with something you'll obey!

—That "something" was you and your friends!I was trying to protect you!

—Then answer me this Doumyouji! Tell me honestly if it had been impossible to send me a message explaining this in some way with one of the boys. Was it absolutely impossible!Tell me!

—T-Th-The old witch!

—I wonder how leaving me alone in an unfamiliar city can be protecting me!

Tsukasa, unable to answer, got up and threw away with his arm everything he could from the table to the floor, causing the fine china broke, spilling the liquid and ruining the food.

—YOU DON'T KNOW ALL I HAD TO GO THROUGH!

Tsukushi didn't move, her face was turned to one side and her hair hid her, she had both hands on the right side of her face.

—Makino...?

When Tsukasa finally saw her, he noticed the gauze was stained with what looked like tea or coffee, when he threw it all, somehow, the warm fluid, had fallen right onto the wound.

—Makino! Wait, let me see...!

—Don't touch me, I'm fine—she said pushing his arm awayleaving Tsukasa frozen in place—And you're right, I don't know what you've been through, but remember that you don't know why I've been through either. Doumyouji, talking about the past is useless now, what happened, happened. The truth is that yes, my heart is broken because whether I like it or not, my feelings for Rui became stronger in the time I was alone with him in Hawaii. Is it my fault? Yes, maybe it is, but I cannot help it, but like I said, I love you too, that's why I asked you both time to think, decide and ... I don't know, spend time with you without any kind of pressure from anyone. Can you do that? Can you please leave me alone? At least, just let...

—Is that you? Fine!I'll leave you alone!—And saying, he took one last look and left the restaurant like a cyclone.

—Doumyouji—Tsukushi murmured as she watched him storm out

—Miss, are you okay? Do you need us to call a doctor or your driver?—The restaurant staff had dared to approach her only after Tsukasa left and seeing that Tsukushi had the Eitouku's uniform they obviously thought she would've everything at her disposal, as a car or a bodyguard.

—I'm fine, thanks. Do not bother to call anyone, I'll do it myself. Sorry I could not try your food.

—Oh no, we are terribly sorry about the whole incident, please let us give you something for the road—and before Tsukushi could refuse, another waiter brought a box to take full of rolls, toast, and small treats for the road—Please Miss , accept it as a courtesy of the house.

—Very well, I will. Thank you very much.

—There's nothing to be thankful, miss. Please come back soon

Tsukushi doubted that at some point she could go back to that place, but seeing it before leaving, it was a wonderful place: warmly lit, with tables covered with spotless white tablecloths and a centerpiece of jasmine

_It's really beautiful_—she thought. Upon leaving she noticed the name _"Café à la Carte"_—_How rare a name so simple._

Another thing she noticed was that the parking lot was empty; no one was there, not a single car.

She was horrified.

She had no idea where she was standing and for what she had seen the car ride took two hours. It would be impossible to be near a bus station since the area looked completely residential full of rich people. She dared not re-enter for fear of being abused when they discovered that the truth was that she had no money, all her fighting spirit was gone with Tsukasa.

Looking left and right, she decided on the path that seemed closer to a street where cars were passing, although they were all individuals, it would have to lead somewhere.

oº°˚˚°ºoº°˚˚°ºoº°˚˚°ºoº°˚˚°ºoº°˚˚°ºoº°˚˚°ºoº°˚˚°ºoº°˚˚°ºoº°˚˚°ºo

Rui was hanging around at school, yawning for staying up so late listening to his mother stories and watching his father's photos of the places they had visited. He wanted to stop by Tsukushi's classroom, but didn't know whether it was right, he thought that, perhaps, to give her time meant not being so close to her at school and, if someone came to recognize in the door of her classroom (which was the most likely) she would notice it immediately and be uncomfortable.

However, his whim won over his good will and trying to do it as inconspicuously as possible, he glanced inside to see if he found her, but was surprised to see her desk empty.

_How strange, when she called yesterday she said she'd come._

He checked his watch and realized that it was late, classeswill soon end up. He decided to go around the emergency stairs and nap a little, it would be impossible to do so at home with his mother running around from one place to another.

He opened the glass doors and went to the balcony for a second, enjoying the breeze of the afternoon when suddenly, he felt a presence and turned around to check. He found that it was nothing less than Tsukushi sitting in the middle of the stairs, clutching her backpack and looking nowhere.

—Tsukushi?—The aforementioned turned to look but said nothing. He approached her and noticed that her gauze was dirty with something brown—Tsukushi, are you okay?

—Rui?—She seemed as if then she fixedher eyes on him and realized who stood before her—Rui!—she cried softly and smiled as she dropped her backpack and hugged him.

—Hey, hey ... are you okay? Your gauze is dirty...

—Mmm, I'm fine. I cannot believe you're here, you always show up when I need it—Rui immediately caught the meaning of her words

—You being like this have anything to do Tsukasa?

Tsukushi broke away from him and stared at him, then, almost immediately, and without blinking, her eyes filled with tears and began to fall into his cheeks. She didn't seem to be making the slightest effort to mourn, but the tears were falling one after another at an alarming rate. Rui asked no more.

—Come

—Where?

—To the infirmary, we have to change that fast.

—No, I don't want to, the classes are about to end and everyone will see me.

—We'll go fast, it won't take us more than 2 minutes—he tried to make her stand up, but her legs didn't seemed to respond.

—I'm sorry, Rui. I walked more than 5 hours ... it hurts everywhere, besidesthat I've eaten almost anything since this morning, sorry, sorry...—Tsukushi didn't understand, she had always been strong, and hated to show weakness to others, but with Rui everything seemed to go backwards. By simply being there for her, he could make all her walls collapse leaving only her true feelings in the air, and that hurt. As these thoughts came to her head, she suddenly felt like she was floating when she saw what was happening, it was exactly that: she was floating; Rui had put on her backpack and then carried her like a princess while climbing the stairs.

—Rui, put me down!

—Do you wish to have a marked face?

—... No

—Then keep quiet and hide your faces in my chest or they'll see you, we're going to the infirmary.

Fresh tears fell from Tsukushi's eyes while she tangled her arms around Rui's neck and hid as he had told her. She realized that the bell had rung just before Rui opened the door and was aware of the murmurs that could be heard around her as Rui progressed, but the only response he got from him was to feel his hands giving a slight squeeze from where they were touching her, trying to reassure her.

Finally she heard a door close and knew she was in the infirmary, she felt something soft under her and Rui's hands leaving her, she was on the bed.

—Take off your shoes.

—N-no, I'm fine like this.

—Tsukushi

Again a look was all that was needed to make her comply, she took them off and waited for Rui to come with a basin of water.

—Here we don't have the medicines prescribed by the doctor, so I'll only cleanse your face and change your gauze, and then I'll take you home. All right?

All he got for an answer was a nod. When he removed the gauze on her face, he felt that this was a reddish purple different from her normal white and creamy skin, every time he saw the wound he blamed himself for not being able to protect her properly.

He finished quickly and made a phone call that lasted only a minute.

—Soon a car will come for us. Do you feel better?

—Yes. I'm sorry about all this

—You don't have to be—Rui wasn't asking anything, he was simple and purely concerned about what was happening at that moment.

—Doumyouji kidnapped me and took me to a restaurant in the morning, it was far away and I didn't know how to get back, so I could not come to class and ...

—Wait…he kidnapped you?—Tsukushi began to tell the whole story, when she finished, Rui had an inscrutable expression.

—Now you're here and you're safe, that's all I care for now—his phone vibrated and hechecked the message—the car arrived, come—and he took her in a princess hold again.

—I-I can walk!

—No, you can't.

And without further ado, he took her to the entrance of the school where other onlookers couldn't stop taking pictures with their cell phones. The trip to Tsukushi's house was not long, but it was more than enough time for Ruito think about what he would tell Tsukasa and how.

_But who does he thinks he is? The first thing she asks is time and the first thing he does is take her to a place against her l, he went crazy..._

—Young master, we have arrived.

—Huh? Ah, yes, thank you. Tsuku…—to Rui's surprise Tsukushi had fallen asleep beside him. He remained watching her a few seconds and made a kindda crazy decision—Sorry, Ogata-san, let's go home.

—Huh?—The driver looked at the rearview mirror and understood—Oh ... yes sir, right away.

oº°˚˚°ºoº°˚˚°ºoº°˚˚°ºoº°˚˚°ºoº°˚˚°ºoº°˚˚°ºoº°˚˚°ºoº°˚˚°ºoº°˚˚°ºo

—Young master! Are you all right? What happened?

—It's all right, Sanae-san. She is Makino Tsukushi, a very important friend, I would like you to please attend her.

—Is the young lady you brought some time ago? You fell asleep while she was here.

—Your memory never fails Sanae-san—he said with a friendly smile while leaving Tsukushi in the bed of a guest room—Please, she is sound asleep, so try to get them wash her without waking her. I will also need gauze, hydrogen peroxide, tape and ... wait a second—Rui began to search his cell phone—yes, this cream should not be too difficult to get.

—Yes, young master.

—My parents?

—They went shopping and said they would return for dinner.

—Okay, that gives me enough time to do everything I need. I leave this in your hands Sanae-san, I'll go take a bath.

—As you wish, young master.

—You're the best—and giving a little hug to whom had nursed him as a grandmother, he went to his room.

—All right ladies—Sanae-san was addressing to the two maids who had appeared as if by magic behind her—the guest is Miss Makino, a very important friend of the young master, so I expect you to behave at the level. Got it?

—Yes, Sanae-san.

—Well. Wash her but try not to wake her, change her clothes and send the uniform for washing, drying and ironing, it must be perfect for tomorrow. See that the young master finds the drugs he asked for on the bedside table before he finishes his bath. Quick, quick...

—Yes, Sanae-san.

_So important friend ... he doesn't deceive me_—Sanae-san thought mischievously, who seemed to have discovered who was responsible for the so favorable change Rui had in recent months.

Rui finished his shower as soon as he could, changed into something more comfortable and went to the guest room. Upon arrival, the door opened, letting out two maids.

—Is she all right?

—Yes, young master. The young miss is really asleep. We gave her a sponge bath and change the uniform for pajamas. We left the drugs requested by the bedside table.

—Thank you very much.

—Ah, young master ... one more thing, besides what you asked, I also took the liberty of putting an anti-inflammatory cream with extract of eucalyptus.

—Why something so specific?

—Well, while washing young miss we couldn't help but notice her feet. She has several blisters and wounds, it must hurt a lot. Sorry if that was not what you wanted, young master-

—No, it's perfect, thank you for everything you've done—he said giving away a warm smile. The maids blushed a little but gave him a respectful bow and retreated to complete their obligations.

Rui entered and watched the small figure wrapped in bed, she looked more comfortable and quiet. Then he began his work, first he went to her feet, that just as the maid had told him, were wounded. He applied the cream on each of them and covered them again. He washed his hands and proceeded to take over her face. He removed the gauze and realized that this wasn't the one he had put in the infirmary, at a closer look, he noted that Tsukushi's face had also been washed very carefully, since only a small diameter of the wound was left unwashed. He then worked on finishing the job, taking care of the stitches and went on to apply the new cream that was sent to buy, ignorant of what was happening at that moment in the hall of his home ...

**In the hall ...**

—Good evening sir, ma'am. I thought you would arrive a little later.

— We decided to return earlier, right honey? Rui should be home and we would like to spend more time with him before Riku goes out on his next business trip. Everything quiet in here, Sanae-san?

—Yes, ma'am.

—Did my son come, Sanae-san?

—Yes, sir.

—Very well, I will refresh myself a bit, please ask serving the food. Thank you.

—As ordered, sir.

—Where is my son, Sanae-san?

—W-Well, ma'am. I think he was ... taking a shower, yes.

—Sanae-san?

— Yes, ma'am?

—What are you hiding?

—Well, ma'am, if I am to be utterly frank—and Sanae took her a little further for itching ears of other servants might be listening—young master is in the guest room.

—And why is he there?

—I think it would be good if you go see him, but don't say anything—she said with a wink. The good Sanae-san had been so many years in the family and got along so well with Hikari since she arrived that she considered her a daughter.

—I am quite curious, okay, I'll be right back—she responded with a big smile.

Hikari walked slowly at the beginning of the hallway leading to the guest room, she observed, to her relief, the door was ajar and she wouldn't have to invent some excuse to open it. She poked her head silently and what she saw left her speechless: His son, Rui, was pasting a gauze pad over the injured face of a girl with such care that it was impossible not to feel the atmosphere full of love. When finished, he shelved the remaining dressing and confirmed that she was covered and comfortable, sat down again beside her and stroked her hair staring at her tenderly with a smile on his face.

_More than enough_—thought Hikari, who moved away as quietly as she could.

She went to the dining room where, indeed, she found to Sanae-san giving instructions for dinner.

—Sanae-san, could you come with me a moment please?

—Yes, ma'am.

Hikari took her to the first floor office, closed the door and began.

—Tell me everything Sanae-san! Who is she!

—I don't know much, ma'am, I know the lady was here once before...

—Really?

Sanae then proceeded to recount what she remembered about Tsukushi fleeting visit to the house…

—But what about now?

—He arrived with her in his arms, he immediately asked us to care over her. I know her name is Makino Tsukushi.

—So Tsukushi-chan ... I'm interested in this girl, I want to know more about her. I find it amazing ... is just that you should've seen his face Sanae-san, I've never seen Rui looking at someone like that! To say that neither to Shizuka!

—I feel the same ma'am, with young Miss Shizuka it was more like a feeling of adoration of a child under an older sister.

—He wants to protect her, it shows a mile away ... well then, our work will be to unravel who this young girl is Sanae-san.

—Certainly, madam, count me in

The two women shook their hands in camaraderie and came out of the office as if nothing had happened. On reaching the room, Hikari saw his son and her husband waiting her for dinner.

—Rui, son.

—Good night, mother. Did you have fun shopping?

—Much, I brought some things.

—You shouldn't have bothered, thanks.

The dinner was pleasant and quiet, Hikari noticed Rui said nothing about the guest who he had at home, so she made a very innocent commentary.

—Rui, I see that your F4 friends don't come by, where are they these days?

—Now everyone is busier mother, each of us has responsibilities every day.

—Well said son, I hope that at some point also see to take charge of our own.

—Of course, Father.

—Well, but son—Hikari interrupted —you know you can bring your male friends and _female _friends into the house without any problems. When you have time, bring them to tea.

—Yes, mother-Rui didn't completely captured the sense of the words of his mother, but found it odd the mention of the word "female", however, he decided to ignore it. The rest of the meal passed without further comment and after seeing the gifts his mother had brought, Rui excuse himself to rest. Before going to his room, he called Sanae-san aside.

—Please, see that tomorrow morning Tsukushi is attended with a great breakfast.

—Yes, young master.

—Thanks, Sanae-san. Oyasumi.

—Oyasumi nasai, young master.

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Tsukushi was dreaming, she knew it because her face wasn't swollen or hurt and was oceanfront watching a beautiful sunset. Suddenly she felt someone holding her from behind and gave her a kiss on the neck, she just laughed, as if this small gesture was something ordinary between her and the man behind her. But who was this man? When she wanted to turn to see a hand covered her eyes and another caressed her lips. Why wouldn't he let her see him? She began to struggle, but suddenly felt warm lips on hers and stopped fighting. They were so familiar ... A gentle kiss ended and left a taste of such a great loneliness that she wanted more, she didn't want to separate herself from that person so quickly. She realized that the hand that covered her eyes was going down to her cheek and she tried to slowly open her eyes…

... to watch a ceiling painted in pastel yellow.

She blinked a few more times to check that it wasn't another dream, but the the pain in her right cheek confirmed that this was reality, but knowing that didn't reassured her at all. She was in a strange room, lying in a strange bed, with pajamas that was not hers. She got up in one go and got sick a little. According to the clock on the wall it was almost 5 ... but that couldn't be, at that time she had been ... where had she been? The last thing she remembered was the inside of Rui's limo.

She tried to walk and realized that the muscles of the legs and the soles of her feet hurt, but it was bearable. She peeked out the door and saw a large hallway.

_Okey, I'm some rich kid's house._

Tsukushi left and advanced to a sort of cozy living room with a large window, then went left and saw the entry.

_How the hell I ended up at the Rui's home?_

She wondered. She had remembered the house thanks to the time they went on a "date", if that's what can be called a date. At least, she was more relaxed, for a moment she thought that Tsukasa had kidnapped her again, now that she knew she was at friend's home; she got thirsty, and tried to find the kitchen. She found it after getting lost a couple of times and was amazed again at all the space needed by the rich people to simple things.

When she was taking some water, the light went on suddenly. She turned frightened to see who it was and ran into a very beautiful woman, of long dark brown hair and brown eyes, eyes that seemed familiar somehow.

—Oh my! I didn't know there was someone awake at this hour in the morning.

—I-I'm sorry, ma'am! I woke up, didn't know where I was and ...I was t-thirsty so...

—It's fine, it's fine, take whatever you want. You are Makino Tsukushi, right?

—Hai.

—It is rare to have visits, more rarely, brought by my child

_"M-My s-s-so-so-son"! Did she just say "my son"!_

—T-then you are...

—Nice to meet you, I'm Hanazawa Hikari, Rui's mother.

—T-The pleasure is all mine, my name is Makino Tsukushi.

—Yes, I knew—she replied with a small smile

—I ... I'm really sorry about all this. The truth is that I don't even remember how I ended up here and on top of it in one of your rooms and ...

—No problem at all, any guest of Rui is important to us. Although I must confess Tsukushi-chan, ah, can call you Tsukushi?

—Yeah, sure!

—I must confess I am surprised that Rui suddenly bring a "female" friend to the house. I would like to know you a little more. Can I?

Truth was that what Tsukushi most wanted at the time was to run in the opposite direction, but the woman in front of her seemed so good and had such a captivating smile plus the very same eyes of Rui, eyes to which she hardly had been able to resist in more than one occasion.

—Of course.

—Come, sit with me. Tell me a little about yourself, I've never heard the name Makino, what do your parents do?

And with that question Tsukushi's pression dropped low. She felt like when she had been standing on Tsukasa's party and his mother had immediately asked who she was, who their parents were, what they did, how much they earned; it was just that in this world, all the rich who she had known measured the a person's worth by how much money they had in a bank account. Before receiving another blow, she decided to cover the hole before the ground got dug.

—I don't come from a wealthy family, ma'am. My parents are now in a fishing village trying to earn enough for a month pension from school. In other words, I am poor.

—I see. And how is that you're friends with Rui?

— Ma'am, I don't mean to be disrespectful, but I already know how this conversation will be like. Don't worry, I'll go soon.

—But, why? Are you somehow offended Tsukushi-chan?

— Well, no, but I've had experience with people who come from wealthy families, who always had everything and always will it all with just snapping their fingers and, truth is, I have no more patience to deal with them. They believe that just because we are poor we have no right to dignity or pride and stack us as fortune hunters or materialistic people getting us all together into the same sack.

—And is Rui like this as well?

—W-well, Rui is ... different, he was always different, although he has rich kid attitudes from time to time, is not as bad as the rest.

—Hahahaha ... —Tsukushi was surprised to hear a slight smile and see a calm face—you're really an interesting girl. Don't you think the way you're getting me in a sack with all the rich people is the same they've done to you?

—Well ...

—And you concluded all of a sudden I'm like the other rich people you've met?

—The truth is that...

—Is it or not?

—Yeah, well, then... please tell me what you have to say after knowing what I told ma'am. I'm poor, I live alone because my parents couldn't keep us all together here in town, now they're fishermen, my brother had to change schools and I have no social status, honor or beauty.

—To be honest, you remind me of me when I was young.

—Huh?

—My maiden name was Mogami. A normal girl without any wealth, my family was not as poor as you are describing your own, but I had nothing except my work and my desire to progress when I fell in love with Rui's father.

The whole time they had been talking, Tsukushi noticed that Hikari had not lost her smile and it seemed so strange to her this kind of treatment ... Soujiro's mother seemed to only follow the orders of his father, Akira's mother was a young spirit and Tsukasa's mother, was definitely a first rated bitch. But this woman was different from all, she seemed "normal" within the standards.

—I apologize.

—Never mind. I know what you must be going through in a school of spoiled kids. I've called from fortune hunter until loose woman, I suffered a lot for what I felt for Riku, but I don't regret it, I have my family, and from now on I will try to keep it together.

Tsukushi kept listening for a while and thought that that woman was really worthy of admiration because of all the fight she had to go through to marry the man she loved, for being such a loving mother who didn't had a chance to be next to her child in his most difficult times but that was trying to overcome her absence and a warm person with whom you could be at peace, she thought that maybe, Rui had inherited the ability to make others feel good just by being around, but she thought that only she felt that way.

—Soon it will be time to get up for breakfast.

—Yes

—Ah! I have a great idea why don't we make breakfast?

—Huh? Really?

—Yes! I haven't cooked anything for Riku in a while and I would like to surprise him. Would you help me?

—Of course.

The two women got up and started looking at where everything was in the kitchen when they were interrupted

—Ma'am! What are you doing here so early?

—Ah, Sanae-san, I got up for some water and found Tsukushi-chan, we were thinking about making breakfast.

—Making breakfast? But ma'am, that's our job, besides most things were ready yesterday. The master asked for a western breakfast today

Tsukushi felt a twist in the stomach as she remembered what had a breakfast like that led to the day before.

—But I want to do something to Riku, I haven't cooked in a long time Sanae-san ...

—Ma'am ...

—Then how about if we make muffins? It is a simple, light dessert that your husband could take to work if he doesn't get the chance to eat it at breakfast.

—You think so, Tsukushi-chan?

—Of course, the recipe is simple and it'll be ready in 30 minutes. Nothing complicated—she concluded with a smile.

—Well, it is decided then. Sanae-san, I'll use the oven on the right to make muffins with Tsukushi-chan, and no buts—she said winking at the old woman who had no choice but to accept.

While the rest of the staff was quite surprised to see the lady of the house int kitchen, and even more, with a strange girl beside her, Sanae gladly watched the two women whipping, powdering and baking, which caused laugh was that both were in pajamas and seemed not to notice it.

—Madam, I see that your dessert is already in the oven

—Yes, Tsukushi is good in the kitchen

—It's no big deal—she said somewhat embarrassed

—Well then, I would like the madam and the young miss to go change for breakfast at the table, it won't be long before the master and young master to get up.

—My uniform...

—It's clean, pressed and hanging in the closet of the guest room young miss.

—Oh ... uh, thank you very much

—Go, Tsukushi, I'll see you on the table—Hikari seemed thrilled to have had time to talk to a girl who seemed honest and sincere, which had grown too quickly and had to get used to be the support of his family.

_That must be her... she has to be responsible for the change that Rui has suffered._

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Rui left his room and went to the dining room, since his parents had arrived, they shared all meals possible. He was a little worried about how Tsukushi had awakened, but chose not to raise suspicions in his parents and wait to go to school with her.

—Good morning, Father.

—Good morning.

—And mother?

—I don't know, since this morning she's excited about something and I said she had a surprise but I do not know what he's talking about.

—It's weird.

—Good morning to all! —Hikari waved in a light yellow dress with a long braid on the left side of her neck. Riku blushed slightly, he couldn't deny that his wife captivated him every day of every day no matter how long they had been together—Dear, I want you to meet someone, a friend of Rui, Tsukushi Makino.

Rui almost fell off his chair to see that behind his mother was Tsukushi, somewhat flushed and with a nervous smile, but calm in the middle of everything.

—Good morning, sorry for any inconvenience I may have caused you yesterday.

—Yesterday?

—Father, yesterday Tsukushi had a little accident and I brought her here because she fainted at school. I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier.

Riku was surprised by the swift reaction of Rui and his desire to protect the girl next to his wife.

—Ah, of course, no problem. Ms. Makino, my name is Hanazawa Riku, it's a pleasure to meet you.

—T-The pleasure is all mine, sir, thank you.

—But well, let's sit down to breakfast that youngsters have to go study.

Given that statement, Tsukushi saw servants appeared from nowhere with different dishes in their hands and placed them quickly to all who were sitting on the table, even though she had spent time at home of the other F4, it was still difficult to get used to be served when all her life she had done things alone.

—Eat what you want Tsukushi-chan, but maybe you're more used to Eastern breakfast, I can order to prepare one for you—at the mention of these words Tsukushi already noticed two of the servants were ready to go to the kitchen at the minimum instruction.

—No, that's fine, I also really like this kind of breakfast, it just that I haven't had it in a long time.

The breakfast was something strange but pleasant, Tsukushi didn't know what to talk about but Hikari tried to make things as simple as possible and also Rui, knowing what her tastes were thanks to the days in Hawaii he knew what dish to get close to her and which not. Riku was observing the whole scene, the girl seemed not to be silly, or interested, but it was obvious that she didn't belong to that kind of world.

After breakfast, Tsukushi went to rinse her mouth and found that in the guest bathroom someone had left her new toothbrush and paste, so she used them, which she didn't find it anywhere was her bag or shoes. She figured they would be in the hall and went there, only to find Hikari, Riku and Rui at the door.

—You're here, now they can all go.

—Young miss, here is your backpack—Tsukushi saw Sanae-san approaching

—Thank you.

—Oh, yes. Riku, Rui ... here you go—and saying this, Hikari gave each of them a small bag—there are some cupcakes that Tsukushi and I made in the morning. Maybe you can eat them after your lunch dear—she stood on her tiptoe and kissed the cheek of her husband, causing he and Tsukushi to blushe at the open display of affection.

—Erm ... yes, of course. Thank you, dear. I'm leaving. Rui?

—I'll see you later mom.

—Have fun darling.

—Thank you for your hospitality Hikari-san— Tsukushi offered a bow and Hikari only managed to give a hug

—I hope you will come back Tsukushi, I would love to talk more with you.

—I-I'll do that... Hanazawa-san, sorry for any inconvenience I may have caused—this time she said turning to Riku.

—There was no discomfort; you are welcome in the house.

After the staff gave his farewell as a whole, the three left to the garden. Riku said goodbye to the two youngsters still wondering what kind of relationship did his child had with that girl.

_I'd never seen him being so open with someone other than Shizuka ... however, he is definitely not feeling uncomfortable._

Rui, as ever, had asked Ogata-san, his driver, to have the car ready for the next day, although he used to walk to school, stopping from time to time on a park or a store, he knew that Tsukushi's feet still ache and preferred to make it easy for her.

—Give me that— and before she could do anything, Rui took her backpack and headed for the door of the car.

—I'm fine, really, I can walk.

And again she saw in action Rui's glance, that without being severe or cold, transmited all that he meant. Tsukushi hopped in the car without saying a word.

—Yesterday I saw Shigeru ... but I couldn't talk to her

—When are you planning to do it?

—I don't know ... truth is that this was the last thing I wanted to do, but she has more right than anyone to know where I am now with Doumyouji, after all we've been through...

—Take it easy, Shigeru is crazy about you, maybe it'll hurt at first, but I am sure that she will understand you.

—Thanks, Rui ... for yesterday, for today.

—There's nothing to thank about, is enough for me to know that you are well and safe.

It was like a reflex, but Tsukushi smiled, a real smile since she had to be kidnapped yesterday. Rui smiled back and was happy to still have the ability to make her smile when she was sad.

They came to school early and there were still had several students entering in their luxury cars, one after another. Rui came down through the door on his right with Tsukushi's backpack on his back and extended his hand to help her down; the gesture had been something that Shizuka had taught him long ago.

_"A true gentleman should always offer help to a lady"_

Tsukushi felt a little embarrassed, but took his hand and again the colors crept to her face. Rui noticed that her finger was naked, but had also noted that there was no necklace around her neck, so he didn't take it too seriously. She had asked for time and he would try to respect it even though deep down it was difficult for him.

Both of them saw in the distance a small crowd of people.

—What now? —Asked both at the same time

—But Mimasaka...Yuuki-chan said that she didn't have work yesterday and when I went to her home there was nobody there! And she never came back throughout the morning since I left someone watching! What if something happened? What if she was kidnapped by some guys from another country because she's our friend and want to hurt her to extort money?

—Relax! Nothing must've happened, and if did, we would've heard something already. Do you know something Soujiro?

—No, I just found out today when Shigeru told me. And you Tsukasa?

—I know nothing.

_"The young lady came out right after you left young master, we gave her a few appetizers as an apology and then she left. We imagined that she would have some mobility"_

That was the answer he got from the people at the restaurant the day before. Tsukasa had been thinking that if he left her there for a couple of hours, Tsukushi would repent of her behavior and will agree to talk to him like a normal person, so he went to vent his anger driving his car, but when he came back, he didn't find her anywhere. Even though he put men looking for her, no one had found her.

—You're amazing, Tsukasa ... This is how you care for your girlf-?

—Shigeru!

—Tsukushi-chan? —Shigeru turned and saw her friend alive and next to Rui—Tsukushi-chaaaaan! I was so worried about you! Are you okay? Did they do something to you? Did they asked for any ransom? —While speaking, she was touching Tsukushi to verify that she really was standing before her.

—Ransom? Shigeru, I'm fine ... I'm sorry I made you worry

—But where did you go that you didn't go home to sleep?

—Erm ...

_RIIIIIIIIIIIING!_

As if "saved by the bell" was not cliché enough, Tsukushi thanked her lucky stars for the interruption of the moment.

—Shigeru, I'd like to talk to after school today, can we meet somewhere later? I don't want to lose more classes

—Sure, sure, I'll come find as soon as you're finished ok? See you later—and she ran to her car. Tsukushi sighed heavily knowing what to expect at the end of the day.

—Chill—she heard Rui's voice—you'll see that everything will be fine. I'd accompany you to the classroom but I think that would slightly violate the agreement.

_Because if I tell you that I don't want to let you go, don't want to leave you, that I want to hold you in my arms again, you could get away from me and that's the last thing I want._

—If you need anything you know where I am—he gave her the backpack and walked into the emergency stairs. Akira and Soujiro followed him without saying anything to Tsukushi and she turned around to go to school, however, Tsukasa was on his way. When she tried to pass him, he stopped her.

—What happened yesterday?

—Nothing. Can I go to school or are you thinking of kidnapping me again?

Tsukasa let her go without even looking at her and went off fuming ,completely mad at the fact that she and Rui had come to school together, but his pride would not let him act as usual.

_She'll get tired, soon she'll get tired that I'm leaving her alone, that I'm not paying attention to her. I am the leader of the F4 and her lover whatever she says. She's mine..._


	8. The tea Ceremony, a Party at Shigeru's

**First of all, I want to apologize to all the wonderful people who take the time to read this story about the delay in my updates. I promise it will not happen again, such a long time between one and another chapter.**

**After this brief emotional Kodak moment, I bring my new episode, maybe you won't like it a lot because there's not much interaction between Rui and Tsukushi but believe me! It's worth the wait for the next one I'm writing. The truth was I was going to include that part in this chapter, but I thought maybe I would be too long and you wouldn't feel the suspense of knowing what would happen.**

**Finally, I want to say a big, fat Thank you to reinbowbox, spiel, Randi Monica (thank you so much for waiting!), ZuzuPeng (your word made me cry T_T Your reviews are my fuel!), banzai, Jenny Lie (for being with me since the beginning, thank you), Riley Cullen(Thank you for such detailed reviews, your POV always help me to see my next chapter, I hope you can forgive me the lack of T/R action in this one, I really promise the next one will satisfy you!), nyrac6275 (I'm still waiting for you girl, your fic is one of the best I've read, please don't let it die!), sakurahana123 and last but not least to everyone that have me in any kind of alert…Thank you all!**

—Rui

The boy turned to listen to his friend.

—Wait a minute. We have not yet had the time to really talk about what's going on.

—That's true—said Akira—you told us the history of Hawaii and you said you would go until the end with Makino but ... this is very rare. We are all separated again.

Rui stopped heading towards the fire escape, because, amid all his friends did not know that Tsukushi and he kept meeting in that place that looked like a little bubble beyond any reality that surrounded them. He turned and went to one of the vacant lots with plenty of grass where they used to sit and talk.

—All right, say whatever you want to say.

—Stay away from what is not yours. If you understand, that should be enough.

Three heads turned to see the arrival of the leader of the F4.

—I thought you said you did not want to see me again

—Rui...stop this nonsense. Makino is mine.

—I will not argue with you, Tsukasa. I already told you what I think and what I'll do from now on.

—And you think that's enough!? That I'll simply stay watching while you steal my girlfriend!?

—Your girlfriend?—Rui looked at him curiously—I'm sure I heard very well when she broke up with you.

—Bastard! —Tsukasa moved forward to strike and Rui had already taken a defensive instance

—Tsukasa, wait!—Soujiro went to contain him

—Rui, calm down—asked Akira

—What I told you at the airport, I say it again, and this is also for you, Akira, Soujiro; I'm not looking to unite them by a trick, I'm not trying to get Tsukasa jealous and make him react to fight for Tsukushi, I'm not using her to forget something ... I'm just in love with her, and since I got on that plane to New York I was willing to do whatever it took if she accepted me.

—Do you mean that Makino has accepted your feelings? —Asked Akira

—She knows what they are and what I'm willing to do for her. Accept them ... I think I can only say that if at some point I get to have her by my side as my girlfriend.

—Keep dreaming...—Tsukasa snapped.

—I don't think that I have better or worse opportunities than you Tsukasa. Frankly I think we are at 50 and 50 percent chance of getting her heart. After all, she's still in love with you.

A silence followed the words of Rui and Tsukasa was surprised to hear him say that.

—Tsukasa, I hope you're not dumb enough to think that Tsukushi hates you, I think she said it in the hospital, she loves you...

—Yes ... it is true, she said that

—You see, Tsukasa? Said Soujiro—All this fighting is ridiculous, she still...

—...but she also loves me. I can tell you in all honesty that I did everything possible to let her know that I'm completely serious about her, and I am more than sure she is aware of this. She asked for time, Tsukasa, and I'm willing to give it, I hope you are too and you can put aside the nonsense that you usually do kidnapping her and then leaving her abandoned, it appear that it has become a customary for you.

— Kidnapping and abandoning her? Akira asked.

—Yesterday Tsukushi didn't attend classes because you took her against her will to _Café à la Carte_, and worse, after discussing you left her there...

—She told me she wanted to be alone, well, that's what I did...

—Yes, I know, she told me. —Tsukasa's anger was rising with every second, you know she had to walk from there to school alone?

—What!? She walked all the way from _Café à la Carte _to here? That must have taken her hours!—said Soujiro

-Yes, it took hours, plus several wounds and blisters.

Both Akira and Soujiro were fighting an uphill battle inside, they had two of their best friends fighting over a girl, but the worst of it was that one of them was clearly damaging her. Tsukasa had always been in love with Tsukushi and they knew it, of course they had been present throughout the development of the relationship, they themselves had seen how much both parts had to go through. However, Tsukasa was used to it, Tsukushi was from another world, and they had observed her suffering: her social status, Tsukasa's mother, the engagement to Shigeru, the coldness of his friend... it was impossible not to feel pity for the girl that in some way or another, had seeped her way into the hearts of the F4.

—Makino will return to you, Tsukasa—Soujiro said after a few seconds—It's just a matter of time. Rui, I'm sorry, but that's what I think, they haven't gone through so much for nothing just to have something like this separating them.

—I respect your decision, Soujiro and yours too, Akira, if you're on that side. No matter what, you are still my best friends and you my brother, Tsukasa.

—No, I'm not going to take sides—said Akira—Sorry, Tsukasa, but you also have to consider the Makino's feelings. What I can say? I feel her like ... part of the family. I don't ... I do not want to see her hurt. Let's say that I'm Switzerland, I'm neutral ... I'm on Makino's side.

Rui looked at his friend and a question lodged in the back of his brain ... was it possible?

—Well, then, those are the facts. I have to go meet with a girl so, I'm leaving first. By the way, this Sunday there will be a presentation of the city community. There will be representatives of the tea ceremony and flower arrangement, obviously my mother made me go. Can you attend? I will need distraction once all that farce is over.

Everyone nodded at his invitation and, giving them a smile, Soujiro left.

—Do what you want, Rui, but ultimately Makino will choose me.

—That's my plan, Tsukasa. What interests me is that Tsukushi is happy, if she ends up being happy with you, I will not regret anything.

Tsukasa wanted to stay angry with Rui, but it was very difficult, after all, he regarded him as his brother too. Without another word, he turned his back and left.

—Well, this sounded too dramatic, I'll go relax a while ... See you later, Rui.

—Wait, Akira. You ... could it be that ... regarding Tsukushi?

—Ha, ha. Couldn't you just not have noticed? It's not exactly as you think, not even close to what you two feel about her. Makino is different, in the midst of all that she knows that I am, she never judged me and the few times I've talked to her alone… is not like other girls that all I think about is how I'm going to seduce them, with her I can be me, even a few minutes ... I don't see her as a potential conquest or something, but I can't deny that she's definitely a girl ... well, a woman worth fighting for.

Rui looked at him impassive.

—Don't worry, Rui. I don't like her in that way, but she is very easy to like. I just want her to be happy, and that she remains part of F4, with you, with Tsukasa or with anyone at the end.

—Thank you, Akira.

—Bah, that's why I do not like these things, too dramatic ... I think there's a new teacher this year, and I heard that her marriage is not going all that well ... maybe I'll offer her some comfort ...

Rui saw his friend as he walked away, the undisputed Don Juan of the F4, Rui knew someday he would also find someone to love. Akira's personality was a façade for many sides, the last thing he wanted was that his family would do to him what they did with Tsukasa.

—I wonder how many rivals I actually have... Tsukushi, Tsukushi ... why did you have to be so ... you?

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Tsukushi spent all day thinking exactly what she was going to tell to Shigeru, so much that, once, she realized that the class was about to end and give way to another and she had not noticed.

_If I had known that my brain would not be present today it would have been better to go with her from the start._

When the bell announcing the end of class rang, Tsukushi still didn't know what she would explain to her friend. She was walking down the corridor heading for the exit when she turned and her feet went running to that place that always had a calming effect on her: The emergency staircase.

She entered hurriedly and her eyes sought the person who seemed to be part of the environment, but she found none. She leaned on the railing and closed her eyes, breathed slowly.

—Yosh ... I will not get anything by staying here.—She turned into the yard and shouted—Tsukushi, gambatte!

She turned back to the hallway, not knowing that there was a clear haired boy smiling slightly from down feeling somewhat calmer for having seen her before returning home.

—Tsukushi, gambatte...—Rui said quietly.

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—¡Tsukushi-chaaaaaaaan!

—Hi, Shigeru.

—Come on, come on ... We have to go pick up Yuuki to shopping and also ...

—Shigeru, actually, I wonder if I can talk to you first ... alone.

—Mmm? Yeah, sure ... you want some ice cream?

Twenty minutes later, they were in an ice cream parlor that had flavors that Tsukushi could have never imagined.

—Tell me, Tsukushi, what is it?

—Well, the truth is I need to tell you what happened with Domyouji when I went to see him to New York.

—Oh but if you tell me that yesterday morning.

—No, Shigeru. You didn't get to listen. I need 10 minutes, so please do not ask me anything and just listen to what I want to tell you.

—Ehh ... okay?

Shigeru, Domyouji and I broke up-Tsukushi saw her friend's eyes opened in surprise, but true to her word, she didn't ask anything as she was telling step by step what had happened since he took the plane to New York. A lump formed in her throat when she had to tell her feelings for Rui had awakened again and, for that reason, she had chosen to stay away from both to be clear about who she loved more. She finished her story until Sunday in the dango shop with Yuuki, she chose not to tell her about_ "Café à la Carte"_

—I feel it was fair that you knew this from my mouth, Shigeru, since I know how much you love to Domyouji...

—Tsukushi-chan, I love both of you, and you'll see that you will soon return, this is nothing, this is...

—This is a lot, Shigeru ... I'm tired.

—So… what? Does that mean you'll leave Tsukasa and be with Hanazawa?

—No, it simply means that I'm taking some time alone, I'm not spending time with any of them more than necessary, I want to try to clear my head and take a break without any rich family coming to question what my reasons are for being in love with their son.

—Tsukushi-chan, Tsukasa's mother will not always have power over him, it'll be just be a few years before he takes over the company...

And I'm supposed to take on their abuses until that day? To endure the insolence of Tsukasa, how he "protects" me and my loved ones, in silence? Just a few years? Is that fair to me, Shigeru?

—But Tsukushi, Tsukasa loves you...

—And me too, but I'm hurt and I will not take any more pain. For once in my life I want to think about me, what I feel, what I want, what I need ... am I allowed to do that?

Tsukushi's eyes denoted such pray in them that Shigeru didn't know what to say. They had always been like that, they fought and even refused loving each other, but ultimately got back together, the bond that united them was so strong that there was no way to separate them, she had suffered that in the flesh.

—Tsukushi ...

—Shigeru, you're my friend, and it was fair that you knew all of this after all you, Domyouji and I went through. I'm really sorry but ... my mind is made up. Thanks for the ice cream.

Without another word, Tsukushi left leaving a really confused Shigeru.

_This can't be ... Tsukushi and Tsukasa apart? Does that mean that he is now...? No, no! It's horrible that you even meant to think something like that Shigeru. You have to re-join them yes! That's what you have to do._

Tsukushi was walking home, still engrossed in her thoughts, when she felt the tone of her cell.

—Moshi mosh ...?

—_Tsukushi-chan_

—Hi, Yuuki, how are you?

—_Good, good... but, I need to ask you a big, big favor..._

—Yeah, sure, tell me. Did something happen?

—_Remember that Ryunosuke had invited me to be a celebration about the tea ceremony this weekend?_

—Yes

—_Well, today I told him yes... the problem is that ..._

—... that ...

—_... I am really nervous Tsukushi. Ryunosuke is a great guy and I feel comfortable at his side, but when I said I would go with him he said he would like me to see this as a date_

—And what do you want me to do?

—_Could you go that day?_

—No way am I doing the third wheel.

—_It's not like that, all I ask you is to go and in case something gets uncomfortable I'll be able to send a message to save me ..._

—Yuuki ...

—_Please Tsukushi ... After what happened with Nishikado you know I'm healing, but it's not easy. Didn't you tell me if I needed anything I just had to tell you?_

Tsukushi understood, her friend had been broken after the incident on the roof and it was true that she was gone for a while when Yuuki was having one of her worst moments.

—Alright, I'll go, but not with you. If you come to need help send me a message and I'll save you.

—_Arigato, Tsukushi!_

Tsukushi said goodbye to her friend trying to calm her down a bit and assuring that there would be no harm in trying dating again.

Still in the ice cream store, a not very different a conversation was taking place

—_It will never work, Shigeru! You're crazy if you think Makino will fall for something like that!_

—Do you have any other plan, genius? Just do what I say!

—_I will go not because you're ordering me monkey! Soujiro had already asked us to go so if it turns out you go, I'll see you ... (click)_

—Ha, hung up without even saying goodbye, Tsukasa wait and see, this plan is foolproof.

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—Tadaima

—Okaerinasai, bocchama.

—Arigato, Sanae-san

—Son!

—I'm home, mother.

Hikari hurried down the stairs to receive her son with a warm hug, that embrace took him totally by surprise, he was not at all accustomed to receive love as often and in that way.

—Did you have a good day at school?

—It was a normal day.

— I trust that Tsukushi is well?

—Physically, she is fine...

—Why the distinction?

—Well... —Rui was not sure whether to comment. He had never spent much time with his mother and now suddenly, overnight, she would be at home every day. He had never developed that bond of trust which had sometimes heard, but the truth was that deep down he knew that the child he was once, was begging to take the hand of her mother, run to those arms in which he wanted to be in all those birthdays and Christmas, he just had to try it, but it was hard— her family is away, her parents and brother are ... traveling, and she is alone, she have always shown that she can stand on her own, but sometimes I worry.

—I see ... but if you like, you can invite her to dinner today and tomorrow. Better yet, why don't you invite her to dinner with us until her family returns?

—Ah...well, Tsukushi works at night, so she always eats dinner at work... — He wasn't lying, the truth was that she worked late and usually ate something with Yuuki on the road, but he obviously couldn't help to worry that she really was taking her three meals a day.

—What a pity ... But promise me that you will invite her to the house again—his mother asked with a smile on his face.

Rui nodded slightly and excused himself to go change. He could not deny that he was glad to see that his mother had liked Tsukushi so well, he also liked the idea to dine with her every day at home, moreover, he would have loved to be able to present her to the whole house as his girlfriend, but something like that was still far away, and all thanks to Tsukasa ... Even if he didn't want to, Rui felt that if he had more time alone with Tsukushi he would have managed to have a much larger space than the one he already harbored in her heart.

—I can only wait... I never thought that something like that will be so difficult.

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Tsukushi spent the rest of her week quite quiet, if to that she deducted Tsukasa's unsuccessful attempts of talking to her: on Wednesday she had to escape through the bathroom window because he had been standing guard outside, on Thursday she had to thank the trio of self-proclaimed queen of the school for camouflaging her departure from the classroom by overwhelming the heir of the Domyouji group and, finally, escaped on Friday last hour of class by having to go to the staff room to present two weeks overdue tasks, thus, Tsukasa stood waiting at the door of the clasroom in vain.

—Frankly, one asks one thing and he does the exact opposite! She grumbled as she walked to the dumpling store. Suddenly, she felt a vibration in her pocket, opened her cell phone and a smile appeared on her face.

_**Did you comply with all the homework? I hope the notes I mailed have helped you. Let me know if I have to bribe the teacher ... Have you eaten?**_

_**Rui**_

—What do you mean "bribe"? Seriously, I don't know when you say it for real and when you're just joking…

_**Everything went well, but I'm sooo tired. I hope I can sleep late tomorrow. Don't even think to bribe anyone ¬¬**_

She thought a bit before answering the last question. The truth was that she had not eaten yet, but didn't want him to worry more than necessary.

_**I ate, I'm full! How are things with your mom?**_

She asked because she knew that Rui had never spent time with his parents and Hikari's own history had already confirmed that she was sad to not be able to get close to her child naturally. Tsukushi would've liked to help in some way, but for now she had to admit that the fact of spending that week alone, even if she had missed him, had given her a sense of calm that she had not had in a long time.

_If only Doumyouji were also like this…_

She suddenly stopped that thought in her head. Was she comparing them? Was she comparing Domyouji with Rui? Another vibration took her out of her reverie.

_**You know I didn't mean it (well, maybe a little) Try to rest over the weekend. My mother is well; she really liked you. How is your wound? In two weeks you have a checkup right? Don't forget about it, if you need company, let me know.**_

Tsukushi smiled again with this last message but didn't fail to note that her question had not been answered. As she read the last part of the message she touched her cheek, the truth was that the swelling had gone down completely, all that remained was the purple of her cheek and besides on the edges had begun to yellow. The drugs were really effective and she had been very surprised to get home after the morning in Rui's house and find a new tube of cream.

_I never realize when he does that sort of thing._

Tsukushi had to accept, she missed Rui more than allowed to admit, she missed her friend, I missed that calm that seemed to float when was at his side without saying anything, she was often thinking about the days they spent in Hawaii and how amazing it was that whole experience together.

—Tsukushi...Are you okay?—Yuuki asked

—Huh? What?

—It's just that you've been distracted all afternoon...

She sighed deeply and leaned against the window of sweets.

—Something happened with one of them, right?

—Not exactly, well...Domyouji still wants to intercept me every chance he gets and that drives me crazy...

—And with Hanazawa-san?

—With Rui is different, he texted me today to see if everything went well with the presentation of the homework and to ask how my wound was.

—I thought it might've been another matter ...

—Yes...well...It's just that I haven't seen him for several days

—Only three days have passed, Tsukushi.

—Yes I know, but sometimes it seem like it's more.

—Why don't you go see him?

—Because I'm trying to keep my promise and stay away from both for now, it would not be fair to either of them to see the other one more…

—You know, at some point you have to do exactly that right?

—...

—Tsukushi, eventually you'll decide for one of them, and obviously you can't do it unless you spend some time with each of them, preferably separately.

—But if I see Rui now and Domyouji finds out _(sigh)_ the last thing I want is for him to throw some of his tantrums and do something to him or kidnap me again, I thought he would've grown up a bit. At least I can continue texting Rui without problems ... He told me that if I needed company for the doctor visit I should let him know, perhaps I can see him then, only two weeks left...

Yuuki realized that even though she had referred to the two guys fighting for the heart of her friend, she was only talking about one of them: Hanazawa Rui. The rest of the night Yuuki made her questions that seemed to have no significant meaning to try to get a clearer picture of who Tsukushi was more inclined towards. It did not take much research to realize that her friend was missing one of them much more, and it wasn't the heir of the Domyouji group.

_If that's what she wants, I'll try to help with everything I can; Domyouji-san may have been his lover but...Hanazawa-san is like a soulmate._

—I think you should ask him to accompany you to the doctor, Tsukushi, after all you told me that he also seemed to know that doctor you would meet here...

On the other side of town, a colored marble eyes young man dropped off the book "The Art of War Sun Tzu" as he felt the vibration of his cell.

_**My wound is much better, the swelling is gone completely and the color has improved over the edges, I hope to see my skin in its natural tone soon...I accept the offer of the company, the chances are that I die of fear if they have to take out the stitches. I write the address in a few days. Oyasumi nasai.**_

_**Tsukushi**_

A smile had begun to draw on his face since he read the first sentence and the end of the message he let out a sigh of relief from his lips.

_I'll see her soon, it's just two weeks. Two weeks..._

Rui also had been holding back of going to look for her or passing through his favorite place in the breaks. He only went to the emergency staircase during school hours; times when he knew Tsukushi wouldn't go... He was trying to comply with her request as much as he could but the truth was that sometimes when he saw her leaving the classroom or running to the school gate to get to work, he would fight the urge to run to her and hug her tightly.

—Two weeks ... that's not much, just 15 days...

He turned to lie on his bed and tried to regain interest in the chapter he was reading, but sleep soon overcame him, flooding it with memories of a room in Hawaii...

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Sunday had arrived, Tsukushi left home dressed in black leggings covered by a dark red skirt, a white blouse and a black sweater, nothing to call too much attention in order to follow Yuuki and Ryounosuke from afar.

The celebration was in a large city park, many shops had risen and offered from, sweets to accompany tea, to beautifully hand decorated cups for the ceremony.

—Hmm...According to program the ceremony will be at one, I think I'll be downright bored for about 3 hours...Anyway, anything to help my friend.

Tsukushi noticed that Yuuki and Ryounosuke had already arrived thanks to a message sent to her by her friend, for what she could see far away, everything seemed fine and Yuuki didn't look uncomfortable...For a moment she stood watching them and reminded all the things she once wanted: the boy she liked asked her out and a day earlier, she would take her time choosing what to wear, on the same day, she might come a little late and would find him waiting for her, they will stroll quietly, maybe he'd try to take her hand and, finally, staring into her eyes, he would give her a kiss.

—I think that kind of scenario is no longer possible for me ...

—Talking alone?

Tsukushi almost toppled a table beside her from the shock of the voice that spoke behind her.

—Rui!

The boy had gone to the same ceremony since Soujiro had invited him, never would he have imagined he would meet the person he had dreamed of the whole weekend standing in a dessert booth talking to herself. It was like breathing again after a long time, he had not realized that he had that pressure in the chest until the moment he saw her face again, and he felt much lighter.

—Hello

—What are you doing here? —She asked with a big smile

—It's also good to see you—he answered imitating her smile. He wore cream pants with a white shirt and scarf, and above all a dark brown coat—Soujiro will be present at this ceremony, believe it or not in the midst of all this there are many things of high quality, including the guests.

—The truth is that I am completely out of my area in this, I only came because Yuuki asked me.

—And where is Yuuki?

—Ehhh...well, actually I didn't come _with_ her, she is currently with Narumiya-kun. What happens is that he has asked her to take this as a date and she is a bit nervous, in case something bad happens, I must take action.

—I see...and tell me, would you mind if I join you in your mission?

Tsukushi stared at him for a few seconds, feeling a pleasant warmth traveling through her veins.

—Of course not.

Both began again to follow from far away, from time to time, the couple of friends while watching ceramics, listening exhibitions and tasting desserts; for a moment the two of them could forget everything and just hang out on a weekend.

—For now it seems that all is well between them, don't you think? Rui asked sitting at a table drinking jasmine tea while Tsukushi drank green tea.

—Yes, I haven't received a message so far so she should be happy. That's good; Nishikado left her really damaged...

—I think Soujiro did what he could to keep her away and, in the middle of everything, he is very grateful to her.

—I know, so I'm glad she's trying to get out and meet more people...

—The main tea ceremony will begin soon, Soujiro will be the first. Shall we?

—So soon? But there was three left!

—Well, it's nearly one o'clock

Tsukushi was truly surprised, time seemed to really have flown. She corroborated her watch and saw that Rui was telling the truth. Had she really not realized how long it had been at his side?

—You're right, we better get going.

—Tsukushi-chan?

Both turned at the mention of her name and they could see Shigeru, Tsukasa and Akira.

—Shigeru!

—Tsukushi-chan! I didn't think I'd see you so soon! How come you are here?

—Um...well, I came with...With Yuuki, yes. We came to see and my house is not far away so… to not get bored on a Sunday...

—Well, I'm glad I found you, how are you Hanazawa?

—Very good, thank you. Good to see you, Okawahara-san.

—Rui, if you had confirmed that you were coming we would have picked you up—said Akira

—The truth is that I didn't decide to come until my mother threw me out of the house saying I had to get out more often. It turned out it was a great idea to stop by—this last he mentioned giving a quick look at Tsukushi.

—You should've stayed asleep-Tsukasa said, boiling inside to see them together in that place

—Where is Yuuki? We must go and see Soujiro together

—I think she should be on the other side, we separated a while ago and...

—Ah! There she is! Yuuki-chaaaaaaaaan!—And without another word Shigeru launched into the race to catch the poor Yuuki who almost died of a heart attack to see everyone gathered there. She had no choice but to accompany Shigeru along with Ryounosuke.

—He is your friend, Yuuki?

—Uh, yeah, Ryou-kun...I mean...

—Yuuki-chan, did you call him by name?-Akira said trying to bother her, Yuuki couldn't help but turn red as a tomato. Ryounosuke decided to intervene for good.

—It is a pleasure, my name is Narumiya Ryounosuke.

—You have beautiful eyes! Did you know that?

—Ah ... well, thanks—said the boy somewhat embarrassed

—It seems that almost everyone is here, right?

—Almost everyone?

—Here comes Sakurako!

A girl of short curly hair approached pushing through the crowd, after all this time she had become a close friend of Shigeru and although she didn't admit it out loud, I also liked Tsukushi. But she was very angry because she had found out that those two were no longer together after all they had been through.

—I'm sorry, are we late for Soujiro?

—No, is about to start. Come on, come on! —Shigeru took all the girls and pushed them towards the right place.

—What just happened? —Ryounosuke asked quietly to Akira.

—Shigeru is an unstoppable force of nature, Soujiro and I learned that the hard way. Let's go. Hey, you two, hurry! —Akira had to break the tense atmosphere that seemed to float around two of his best friends. Tsukasa seemed to be throwing daggers from his eyes while Rui was still standing with a vague smile on his face—Come on!

The boys caught up with the girls and while Yuuki was still somewhat still flushed by the comment of Akira and Tsukushi was trying to wriggle out of Shigeru, the latter was plotting her plan

_How lucky! After this I was supposed to go to Tsukushi's house to take her to mine and have a party with everyone, but turns out she came today! The only thing wrong with my plan is that Hanazawa is also here...Anyway, it's just a little bump, everything will go according to my plan today...jujujuju!_

And suddenly, she hit someone and that caused the interruption of her thoughts

—Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't look where I was...Nishikado?

It turned out that the person against whom she had clashed was Soujiro, dressed in traditional clothes accompanied by a girl of stunning beauty who was holding different flowers, undoubtedly for an arrangement.

—Ah, Shigeru Makino...Yuuki-chan.

—Hello—answered the three. Yuuki couldn't help noticing the girl beside him; she knew the likes of Akira to perfection and knew that in front of her was the epitome of all that Soujiro always looked in his "partners"

—Hey, Soujiro!—called Akira who had arrived with the rest of the boys—shouldn't you be already in the ceremony?

—Yes, I'm going there, they asked me to accompany Nanami because of the…—he interrupted his answer the few seconds it took him to realize that Ryounosuke was also with Akira, Tsukasa and Rui—... flower arrangement.

—Hi, how are you? —Greeted Nanami

—Whoa, Nishikado-san, I didn't know that you were one of the greatest representatives of the tea ceremony, said Ryounosuke as he approached, but Soujiro did not give any response

—We are late, Nanami. See you guys soon.

Rui tried to hide a smile but couldn't, it was so obvious that it seemed incredible that no one else had realized the situation. They moved up to the main event hall, all the spaces for the guests were pillows on the floor to sit formally before the people who would give the show, facing each one of them were Sakura flowers and a cup of tea.

—We invite you to take part in a great Japanese tradition, ladies and gentlemen, please receive the heirs of the house Nishikado and Tanaka, Soujiro and Nanami

The ceremony performed by both youngsters was so beautiful that there was no way to decide who to pay attention. Nanami arranged the flowers one after another with such calmness and beauty that anyone who looked at her remained enraptured; on the other hand, Soujiro performed rapid, fluid movements to prepare his delicious tea.

Yuuki started to remember the first time she'd seen him do that, she had been so hurt and Soujiro had been the one who had helped her find the confidence she needed to get out of the hole she had fallen in. She was really happy to have fallen for him, having fought and cried, it was true that the result was a precipitous decline, but no one could tell she didn't try, that she didn't give her best effort in that love and that she didn't gave nothing in return to the person she loved.

—It's amazing she heard a whisper close to her ear

—Huh?

—I mean I've seen things like this on TV but seeing them live gives you a completely different feeling, don't you think?—Ryounosuke asked as he watched Soujiro sitting, waiting until the organizers finished drinking their tea, all that remained was Nanami finished her precious arrangement.

—Yes, it's my first time seeing a flower arrangement so closely...She looks so beautiful, not just flowers, she has become part of her arrangement—Yuuki thought wistfully that she may never become so beautiful like that girl...but just as that sad idea formed in her mind she felt a hand on her cheek and how it forced her to turn her face. Ryounosuke had placed some Sakura flowers in her hair.

—I think the Yuuki-chan I see in front of me every day is more beautiful than all those flowers, even these Sakura don't compare to you.

Yuuki blushed hard and so did Ryounosuke, he still couldn't believe he had been so bold as to do and say something like that, but was pleasantly rewarded with a small embarrassed smile of the girl he liked. However, while the two of them were in their little bubble, from afar, the heir of the tea empire was feeling again the thorn in the chest that wouldn't let him calm, he felt an unjustified anger and that bothered him even more .

Sudden clapping woke him up and made him realize that Nanami had already finished an arrangement of lilies and foliage. He returned his gaze to its previous place and saw Yuuki clapping very excited while admiring the arrangement, she turned her head and he thought it was to watch him, but she did it to make a comment to the blue-eyed boy at her left. He couldn't wait to leave that place.

—Soujiro was good right? And that girl Nanami seemed to be floating as she placed her flowers —Shigeru said once they had left the hall

—Well, Yuuki-chan liked it very much—commented Ryounosuke

—Did you like it so much that you put those flowers Yuuki? You look beautiful!—Shigeru said, causing the girl to try to hide at removing them and save them in the bag.

—Well, this party is over, buuuuuuuuuuuut, there's another in my house so we're all going!

—What do you mean monkey?

—I had prepared a feast for later and was going to invite Tsukushi and Yuuki alongside the F4, but since we're all here, we can go together right?

—And who says I'm going?

—Come on, Tsukasa, don't be a party pooper, after all I'm sure you have nothing better to do, —said Soujiro behind the group. He had already changed clothes and had Nanami beside him also in casual clothes, which made her look even more beautiful if that was possible.

—I agree with Soujiro, the truth is that I'd get bored at home.

—Perfect! Then it is settled

—Then, Yuuki-chan, see you tomorrow at school—Ryounosuke began to say goodbye, a little disappointed to not be able to walk her home.

—No, wait...I…

—You're also coming! —Exclaimed Shigeru

—Huh?

—You are a friend of Tsukushi and Yuuki right? Then you are also my friend, and you too Nanami-chan, don't you want to come?

—Of course, I appreciate very much your invitation.

—You have a very annoying way to make people do what you want monkey. This whole party is ridiculous

—Tsukushi, are you coming?

—Yeah, sure, why not? —Tsukushi had nothing planned for the day and spend it with Shigeru and Yuki didn't seem bad, furthermore, Yuuki was looking at her with pleading eyes so she won't say no.

—I'm also going—Rui said almost immediately

—Me too! —Tsukasa cried, he hated knowing that those two were going to be together without him being present.

—Then let's go!


	9. Shigeru's Closet

**Hello again! It's been a while huh? Well, I hope that you haven't given up on me and this story, I'm really trying my best to keep writing the best I can. Thanks for the PM's and reviews (Jenny Lie [thanks for still being here!], Caryn, -chan, ZuzuPeng and Areej.A.A) **

**Remember girls! Reviews are writers food! Thank you very much for reading! ^^**

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Shigeru's mansion was as impressive as any of the F4, filled with halls, stairs, servants and luxuries.

A butler led them to a large room that looked like a first-class karaoke. Ryounosuke, Tsukushi and Yuuki had been before in karaokes, more Yuuki than Tsukushi, but this was another level: Ergonomic seats, carpet, acoustic walls, a white wardrobe, microphones, 42" plasma screen, in short, everything one wouldn't think of for ordinary karaoke, all that was there.

—I can't believe she has a karaoke inside her house.

—Yuuki, let's face it, our own homes fit here and there's still space to spare

—Come on girls, it's not a big deal, I just told my parents I would have people coming and decided to transform the recording studio into a karaoke, besides, I already left the singing lessons.

Both Yuuki and Tsukushi were speechless when they realized that that place had been erected in less than a week. Ryounosuke was just stunned, he had never seen so much luxury together, obviously, the rest of the F4 and Nanami were right at home.

—Young Masters and Misses, you are asked to please enjoy your stay and ask whatever you need to make your time here more enjoyable.

Three of the people present sat together to avoid feeling lost in that limbo the rest called "karaoke"

—Well then, we are 5 boys and 5 girls: Yuuki, Sakurako, Tsukushi, Nanami and I, then are Akira, Soujiro, Hanazawa, Domyouji and Narumiya. This will be great! We have couples for everything. How about if we start with some Taboo?

—What is that?—Yuuki asked

—It's very simple, is a game where you have to make your team guess the word designated without mentioning the forbidden words in the rest of the card, it will be fun. Moreover, I think it would be better if the girls played against guys. What do you think?

The only ones excited in the room seemed to be Shigeru, Akira and Nanami, the rest still was not sure of what was happening but started playing. Soon it was shown that the strength of the men team was Soujiro, he had an incredible ability to remind the rest situations where there was no other way out than the designated word, however, he was not too happy since it was Ryounosuke the one guessing most of the words.

—Yes! Another point for us! Ja!— exclaimed Tsukasa

—Calm down cauliflower head, the game hasn't end yet—refuted Tsukushi

—Did you say something commoner? Admit defeat now and stop making a fool of yourself.

—What did you say Doumyouji?

Both forgot for a moment about the game to throw an insult after another and no one seemed to have the urge to interrupt. Shigeru, meanwhile, was happy with the development of the afternoon: they had scarcely begun to play and these two were already excited and fighting, that was something that characterized them, they were more honest the more they discussed.

Finally, the boys ended up winning and Tsukushi had to eat his words while watching a stupid victory dance from Akira and Domyouji.

—Well, but the winning team must always give a punishment to the loser. Right, Shigeru? —asked Akira

—Huh?

—I think it's fair— Soujiro intervened—there should be a reward for having done so well.

—Then... Hey you, commoner! Come and serve me a drink!

—What did you say!?

—Quiet, Tsukasa. How about we make the girls we serve during...mmm...10 minutes?

—Urgh…well, okay

Shigeru stood up along with the rest of the girls to take any drink. Tsukushi glanced toward Rui, he too was watching, she knew if she had to serve someone, it would be much easier and less humiliating to do it with him, but the gesture did not go unnoticed by Tsukasa who again demanded that Tsukushi went to serve him something to drink. Finally, they ended up like this: Nanami/Soujiro, Sakurako/Akira, Tsukushi/Tsukasa, Shigeru/Rui and Yuuki/Ryounosuke.

While most of the boys were gloating and taking advantage of the situation, another was the case with the last couple

—Mmm...Yuuki-chan, you don't have do all this, just serve me a glass and go—Ryounosuke quietly told her

—No, it's fine, we lost, you will see that we'll win the next game and make you cry—Yuuki said with a challenging smile. He didn't know she was so competitive and that made him happy because he was discovering a new side of her personality. From afar, Soujiro tried to focus solely on Nanami, but could not avoid occasionally divert his gaze. Rui and Shigeru were diplomats with each other, while Akira and Sakurako exchanged some comments in two ways. However, no one could not see Tsukasa and Tsukushi like two angry dogs fighting with each other, in a way it was funny because it seemed that everything was back to normal as they communicated, even if that communication was shouting.

—You never learned how to serve a drink?

—Why should I know!? I don't drink!

—Oh, yes, every time you do, you end up vomiting in the people's Armani

—...You...! That was an accident! If you want to drink so much, help yourself!—And saying that, she threw him a bottle and got up to go sit again, but when she did, her feet got stuck to a part of the carpet, causing her body to lose the balance to go to en up directly on the glasses that were on the table.

—Watch out!—Yuuki shouted. Rui had already stretched his body to hold her but Tsukasa was closer and took her in his arms to grab her. Tsukushi ended against Tsukasa's chest without being quite sure what had just happened.

—Be more careful—she felt he whispered in her ear—You have a cut on your cheek. Do you want more?

Tsukushi blushed and pulled away from him with a firm push. Tsukasa had changed the expression of mockery he had until a few seconds before and she very well knew the look he wore now, he always looked her like that when he was serious, when he was worried about her.

—Thank you...—she said before separating definitively and returned to her seat. Shigeru was thrilled inside and turned to see Rui's face, but he was sitting again and it was really impossible to tell what he was thinking.

—Well, I think it's been 10 minutes. Girls, we can go back to our places—said Shigeru—What should we do now?

—Isn't it obvious? We are in a karaoke… we sing! —said Ryounosuke

—Well said! That's the spirit I was looking for. Would you like to start?

—Sure, no problem. Do you have songs in other languages, Okawahara-san?

—Of course, just search for it with the remote

—What are you singing? —Asked Nanami

—Do you know TANK? He's a Taiwanese singer

—Are you going to sing in Taiwanese?

—Well, the truth is that I know some other languages thanks to my mom, and a friend of mine showed me this song and told me that she liked it but didn't know it meant. I handed her the letter, I hope she know what it means when she listens to it again—Ryounosuke exchanged a glance with Yuuki and smiled slightly.

—How exciting!—Said Shigeru

—Found it! Well, here it goes...

**(A.N.: If you wish to listen to the song, go to my profile and find tha link. Thank you!)**

Personal Angel – TANK (OST of Hana Kimi Taiwanese version)

_I will not blame you for hiding it from me._

_When an angel comes to the Earth, she should hide her wings._

_People are stupid and abrupt, but you are delicate and kind._

_How can I let you be hurt because of me? _

_Small hands, but with thick warmth._

_You can always calm down my uneasy nights._

_The dream that I dare not to dream, pass through your eyes, _

_I then see it is just in front of me_

_No one can grab you away from my side._

_You are my personal angel, _

_only I can own you._

_No one else can replace you in my heart._

_I own a personal angel, _

_I don't need any other wish_

_Small hands, but with great power._

_I too can definitely soar high like you._

_The place you want to go is my direction._

_You have my protection so you just focus on smiling brightly._

_No one can grab you away from my side._

_You are my personal angel, _

_only I can own you._

_No one else can replace you in my heart._

_I own a personal angel, _

_I don't need any other wish_

_If it weren't for you, I'd still be sleeping._

_Despairingly thinking that there is only darkness in life._

_No one can grab you away from my side._

_You are my personal angel, _

_only I can own you._

_No one else can replace you in my heart._

_I own a personal angel, _

_I don't need any other wish_

Ryounosuke barely mentioned the first words and all went silent...His voice was calm and melodious, and the song sounded very romantic, although most didn't know what he was saying, they could deduce the feeling.

Tsukushi noticed that her friend watched the boy intently with a slight blush on her cheeks; she realized that Yuuki didn't disliked spending time with him and, indeed, knew that this song was one of her favorites and one day in the store she had taken a sheet with the translation of the song, now she knew who had done it. Ryounosuke was singing for her.

When the song ended everyone clapped, but Soujiro did so without much encouragement.

—You sing very well! —Shigeru told him

—I'm an amateur, my regular public is my shower soap and my mom's reconditioners—Everyone laughed with him and the meeting became more enjoyable.

—Very well, very well...who's next?

Akira was next to the microphone with a rock song in English, Tsukushi didn't know but Akira liked them a lot, Shigeru and Nanami duo sang a song of Utada Hikaru "Flavor of Life", very pretty, both girls had a good voice but Nanami was simply angelic. Tsukasa sang something everyone had trouble recognizing until they learned that he was sullying a song from Bon Jovi with his poor English. Tsukushi didn't want to sing because she had no aptitude for it, but nobody wanted to let her pass no matter how bad she sang so she had to get up and do it. When she was trying to decide a simple song, she saw Rui was secretly moving his hands as if he had a puppet.

_Sure! That should not be too difficult._

And to the surprise of all, she sang Succesful Mission, the opening of Saber Marionette J; along with Rui they had played all the days they spent in Hawaii, he knew she didn't sing, but somehow the openings and endings of animes were what she was best at, and that was one of her favorites.

—Waaaaaaaaa, Tsukushi I didn't know you sang so well!—Shigeru said

—It is only with the songs of the anime I like

—Oh, do you still see anime at your age?—Tsukasa asked

—Do you want me to tell everyone of a certain collection of DVD?—The days she had spent being a servant in the Domyouji's house, she had discovered a whole collection of anime, but the old ones: Cobra, Lupin, Ōgon Batto, Kōtetsu Jīgu and many others.

—What are you…?

—Ohh… you really want me to talk?

Tsukasa remained sulking in place while the rest were dying of curiosity, but Tsukushi said nothing, while sitting down she gave a silent "thank you" to Rui, he replied with a smile. He was next and passed the test with flying colors, he had a deep voice that left all the girls enraptured. The next to come forward was Yuuki, and she was really nervous.

—Come on you can do it, your voice is beautiful—said Ryounosuke

—Have you already heard her? —asked Akira

—Yuuki-chan participates in school ceremonies and occasionally helps the choir...

—Wow

—It's true, I've also heard her and she is not bad at all—Tsukushi said in defense of her friend

—Please...it's no big deal, it's just a hobby... —Yuuki was blushing while trying to locate a song and Ryounosuke stood up to give a suggestion in private. It seemed they were discussing something and then he took her by the shoulders and gave him a slight nod, Yuuki replied and he returned to his seat.

—Who _the hell _does he think he is?

—Did you say something?—Akira asked his friend

—No, nothing—Soujiro was uncomfortable with himself.

The music started, a warm piano notes and suddenly, the entire room was flooded with Yuuki's voice...

**(A.N.: If you wish to listen to the song, go to my profile and find tha link. ****Thank you!)**

Kimi ni Todoke (Reaching You) – May (Ending de la 2da Temporada del Anime Kimi ni Todoke)

_Please, just for now, don't turn around_

_It's evening and the wind rustles, we're close enough to touch_

_I'm looking at you, forever_

_I'm reaching for you. I'm reaching for you_

_It's fine if my love isn't returned. It's fine if I get hurt_

_No matter how many times, I want to tell you_

_I love you. I love you_

_It's fine if I can't sleep at night. It's fine if morning doesn't come_

_I just want to express it over and over, I'm reaching you_

_Today too, I create a new memory of you_

_I cherish even your sigh, your hesitation_

_I've always been waiting for you_

_I'm reaching for you. I'm reaching for you_

_It's fine if my love isn't returned. It's fine if I get hurt_

_No matter how many times, I want to tell you_

_I love you. I love you_

_It's fine if I can't sleep at night. It's fine if morning doesn't come_

_I just want to express it over and over, I'm reaching you_

The song was beautiful, everyone liked it, it was a melodious and romantic voice, but, for some reason, Soujiro felt every word weighed on his mind when he heard it. Had not she done exactly that? Fight against all reason to love a guy like him? He could never reciprocate her feelings, he knew that, then why this annoyance?

Yuuki finished completely red amid cheers and applause, Akira even stood to applaud, she received words of congratulations by everyone, even Soujiro, but Yuuki noticed he was wearing the mask he wore when he spoke with all the other girls, which upset her very much, but said nothing.

Finally Sakurako and Soujiro sang, everyone was having a great time. The food and drinks arrived as if by magic, the music and the conversation kept flowing in all directions. Tsukushi liked Nanami a lot, she was a rich girl, but through it all she was humble, a rare quality among people of her status.

—Well, well—Shigeru interrupted at one point of the night—as we are in a karaoke, there's a game I've always wanted to try

—And what is it?

—"King's game"

Those who knew the game looked at each other, but there were those who knew nothing at all

—What is that?—Nanami asked

—The game goes like this, in a container we will put nine Popsicle sticks, at the end of each one of them there will be a number, the king's position rotates clockwise, all take one but nobody should see what number they got. When everyone has a stick, the king gives an order "Number six has to hold hand with number 1" and then all verify if they happen to have those numbers. As you can imagine, the king or queen has all the power and their orders are irrefutable, so I don't care if the order is between two guys or two girls, you must comply!

—Sounds interesting—said Nanami

—We haven't played this in a while Soujiro, huh?

—Right.

—Did you know this game, Tsukasa, Rui?

—No—answered both

—Well then, let's play!

Suddenly, a maid entered with the specified container and sticks. By drawing out the first king would be Akira, all took one stick and waited for the order

—Well then, the number 4 will...mmm...will have to dance like a ballet dancer, how's that?

Everyone looked at their numbers and Ryounosuke was elected. The girls almost died from laughter to see him pirouetting here and there.

—Ok, ok, mix it all over again, now it's up to Hanazawa-san.

—Number two has to dande Oppa Gangnam Style—it was Nanami's turn and it was quite fun to see her flushed and giggly.

The orders remained for one person, until it was Shigeru's turn.

—Number 7 will have to embrace number 8 until the end of fulfilling the challenge of the next king—all were silent, but immediately checked their numbers; Sakurako was 7 and Rui was 8. She stood up quickly and went to his side

—Can I have your seat, Akira-senpai?

—Sure.

Rui face showed he didn't like that one bit and remained completely indifferent to the sweet embrace of Sakurako.

The rounds continued and this time it was increasingly common penalties were for two people. When Tsukasa came to be King, he gave the order that was, perhaps, the most obvious in this kind of game.

—Number 9 should kiss number 5—Again all quickly checked their numbers.

—I am 5—said Yuuki

—And I'm 9—said Ryounosuke

Nanami and Shigeru burst into accomplices giggles and Tsukushi joined them.

—Come on man, kiss her—egged Akira

Ryounosuke stood and offered his hand to Yuuki, both were completely embarrassed. She stood up and he looked indecisive. He stared at her and noticed that Yuuki was shaking. He looked down and to the surprise of all, bowed, took her hand and placed a kiss on the back of it.

Sighs escaped from the throats of the girls, whistling from Akira and Tsukasa's lips, Rui laughed at the situation and Soujiro's face.

—That's not what I said—Tsukasa claimed with a smile

—You said to give her a kiss, you didn't specify where

—Thanks—said Yuuki

—Anytime

The girls hugged Yuuki when she returned to her seat and Akira gave a few friendly punches to Ryounokuse when he approach him.

—Let's take a break to cool certain faces— said Shigeru—Tsukasa, would you come with me for a few more snacks?

—Why me?

—Just come!

Both left the room and Shigeru took him to an empty room

—What do you want monkey?

—Listen up, fool, I have a plan for you to be alone for a while with Tsukushi.

—With all those people?

—Have you ever heard of the game "Seven minutes in Paradise"?

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Everyone was still in the karaoke lounge talking and debating when a maid came back to change the plates of food and drinks, while he was doing it, she stumbled, dropped her tray on the table and she fell on Akira.

—Young master! I'm so sorry! Please forgive me!

—No problem—he replied with a charming smile

—What happened? —Shigeru and Tsukasa had come with potatoes and candies

—Miss, I'm so sorry, I dipped the table trying to put new drinks

—Don't worry, you just have to clean it

—Yes, Miss, thank you very much

—Oh no, the sticks got wet... Could you please ask them to prepare new ones?

—Right away, Miss

In less than 10 minutes everything was as before and the game could continue, Shigeru only had to wait a turn to carry out her plan

**Flashback**

—Listen, Tsukasa, two sticks have a colored dot on them, very small, I don't think anyone else will notice. The one with the blue dot is for you, is number 8, the red dot will be for Tsukushi, is number 3. Just be sure to take your number and I will take care of the rest.

—How do you think Tsukushi will choose specially that one?

—I told you, let me do the rest.

**End of Flashback**

—My turn? —Shigeru asked when Soujiro released Akira's hand after Ryounosuke's order—Well, nobody touches their sticks until my order

—Why?

—To make it more interesting, also Akira and Tsukasa are looking ahead of time and that doesn't count.

—Fine, fine...What is the order, monkey?

—Before giving my order, I'll give you a little suspense, do you how to play "Seven minutes in Paradise"? —Some laughed, but Tsukushi and Yuuki didn't

—You see girls, I explain quickly, 7 minutes in paradise is a game in which two people are locked up together for 7 minutes, obviously

—And why is that? —Yuuki asked innocently

—Usually it is to give two people some time "alone"—she said marking the word "alone"

—But there are boys and girls...I don't think the guys would like to be locked in a room. In the end, they'd only had to wait until the time run out, right? —Tsukukshi asked.

—Not exactly, you all see this closet? Two of you will be locked here

—What!?

Shigeru opened the white closet doors and everyone could see that in there only two people will fit and quite close to each other with almost no room to move.

—The combination is electronic and will not open for any reason until time passes. I thought it best to round the time to 10 minutes and let it go, how about it?

—This is getting good! —said Akira

—I have never played it, what will we do if we have to do it, Tsukushi?

—Hopefully not, and if so, let us hope we get the punishement with a girl.

—OK, now that everyone knows what will happen, this is my order, the number 8 and the number 3 must play "10 minutes in paradise" Yes!

All hands went to take a stick, but Shigeru made a happiness pirouette and threw the sticks to the ground.

—Oh! Sorry—she sought the stick of red dot and offered to Tsukushi—Here

—Thank you—she said keeping the stick behind her back

Tsukasa was doing the same with his stick and found it, the blue dot, he took it and smiled, if this resulted, he could talk to Tsukushi even if she didn't want it. While thinking about this, he felt something in his nose bothering him, first a little, then a lot and before you know it, he gave a loud sneeze that made him collide with Rui and drop his stick.

—Are you okay?

—Of course! Where's my number?

Rui had already picked up one from floor. Tsukasa took that one from him and said no more.

—Is everybody ready? Well, check your numbers!

—No way... —Tsukushi watched her stick in terror to find the number 3. Yuuki noticed and looked around to see who was the person who had obtained the number 8.

—it seems that you can't get away from me, commoner.

—You have number eight!?

—No, I have it—all turned to see Rui holding a stick with an undisputed number 8.

—But how...!?

—Did you already know what your number was?—Nanami asked

—Surely, you saw it before time as always—intervened Shigeru, clearly surprised by this result

—Yes, I did, problem? What I want to know is how you stole my number!

—It was not on purpose, when you sneezed you hit me and both your number and mine fell to the ground, I picked up the further one as I had seen that was mine, but when I did you just you took it without asking. I didn't care much because, in the end, everything is a matter of chance, it seems that it was there that you and I changed our number.

—You're a...!

—Come on, Tsukasa, he didn't do it on purpose—said Akira sensing a prompt fight—let Shigeru's order be fulfilled.

—Well, we can redo the draw—said Shigeru

—But why do it? It was luck, besides, you told us that the orders were absolute—Nanami said

—I agree with you, Shigeru —said Soujiro

—I think she's right—said Ryounosuke addressing Nanami.

—Wouldn't it be easier if we vote? —asked Yuuki—All those in favor of redoing the draw, raise your hand—Soujiro, Shigeru, Sakurako and Tsukasa raised their hands—Those are 4 in favor, all those opposed to redo the draw? —This time it was Nanami, Ryounosuke, Akira, Rui and Yuuki that raised their hands—That gives five to four. What do we do Shigeru?

—You don't vote, commoner? Or do you want to go in there so much?

—There shouldn't even be a need to vote, the king's orders can't be refuted—she hissed

—If this had gone the other way you would have protested right?

Tsukasa froze at the look Tsukushi gave him, her eyes were fixed on the number 3 and the number 8 and a veil of understanding had fallen on her.

—I would have gone in there with you if you had had the number. I do not play dirty.

—Tsukasa! It was luck, so stop talking like that. Tsukushi, Rui, come and get this over with—Shigeru opened the closet doors and everyone saw as both of them were face to face with just about 10 centimeters of space between them.

—See you in 10 minutes—was the last they heard before the doors closed.

The tension was evident on both sides of the hall when Shigeru turned around, even Ryounosuke and Nanami that were not aware of the whole thing felt a knife could cut the atmosphere.

—Can we ask for more to drink?

—Yes, I think that would be best

Comments began to circle among them, Tsukasa had broken his stick in two and had gone out of the room; Shigeru followed him while the rest tried to return the meeting to normal.

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Within the small closet everything was dark, Tsukushi could hear the conversation outside like a whisper. If she moved to one of its sides, she would end up against a soft lining board except forward...there she would crash into Rui.

—Did you notice?

—I noticed it at the last moment—she answered—the numbers were marked...

—You have good eyesight

—I cannot believe he tried to do something as ridiculous as this...Lock me up? What did he expect? What in ten minutes...? I don't even know what he imagined he could say or do in ten minutes...Did you know about this?

—No, I just figured it out when you said you didn't play dirty, I noticed you wouldn't make a comment like that so lightly. But I don't think it was just Tsukasa, Okawahara also must have helped a bit...

—And now we are here...

—And now we are here...

Suddenly that fact was more real, they were alone (somehow), together, close, so much that their breaths would mingle if they gave one more step. Tsukushi felt a shudder and almost jumped when Rui sighed.

—This is not fair...

—Huh?

—I tried to stay as far away from you as I can, I haven't look up for you or called you, I turned to text messaging as because it was more impersonal and after all my efforts...They decide to lock me up here? With you?

Rui had closed the short distance between him and Tsukushi putting an arm on each side of her face, leaning against the wall that crashed into the back of her.

—Forgive me...but it really is unbearable to be at such short distance and not being close. I will not do anything, I promise, just… let me feel you a few minutes.

Rui knew that somehow he was taking advantage of the situation and that was not his nature, it was not he who pushed someone to do or not do something he wanted, but this scenario plus the fact that he had been drinking a little during the meeting, made his judgment somewhat cloudy.

He waited for an answer, a cry, a push, even a slap, but he only noted that Tsukushi had lowered her face; it was as if she was giving a silent approval.

—If you feel uncomfortable, tell me...Clearly I'm just taking advantage of all this...

—...I'm fine...

Tsukushi knew she was also taking advantage, on one hand she said to her and the rest of the world she mustn't give advantage to any of the two boys, but it was clear that she was also enjoying sharing some time alone, as unusual as it was, with Rui.

The boy turned his face to the right and could inhale the perfume given off by her hair, he had always liked the Tsukushi's scent, it was special.

—Is your wound really better? —He asked gently stroking her cheek

—Yes, it is, but I doubt you can see it in this darkness.

—At least with the passing of the days I noticed that the swelling is gone, that calms me a lot...

Was there air conditioning in the closet? Tsukushi felt like it, because the environment seemed warmer. She wanted to say something, but the words didn't seem to want to come together in a coherent sentence, however, she was a weed, she would come up with something, voluntarily or involuntarily. In this case, it was the latest.

Tsukushi moved her shoulders slightly, then again, and again.

—Are you uncomfortable?

—No, is not that, is just...Aish!

—What?

—My…My back itches...

Rui couldn't help laughing loudly and turned away from her to give her space so she could scratch. Tsukushi tried to reach bending the arm down, but failed, then tried to do bend it up, but she failed again, she tried more than 10 ways to reach that point that was starting to desperate her, but she couldn't!

—Not even rubbing against the wall can I do something because they are lined. Arghh! Is very itchy!

—Can I try?

Tsukushi thought for a few seconds and then gave him permission. Rui approach her again but did not let her turn around to give him her back, on the contrary, it was like he was hugging her as she directed. Tsukushi blushed and was grateful it was dark for Rui to notice.

Rui tried to scratch slightly, but the fabric of the Tsukushi's blouse prevented the relief arrived in full, on the contrary, it caused some pain.

—I think this is not working.

—Why did something like this happen right now?

—Tsukushi...Do you trust me?—Rui took her by the shoulders as he asked this

—Huh?

—Do you trust me?

—Yes—the question seemed absurd, Tsukushi knew that the trust between them was as natural as breathing, but soon she'd understand the reason for the question.

Rui pulled her to him again.

—I'll be fast

Before Tsukushi noticed, Rui had loosened the back of her blouse that was inside her skirt and touched her back directly, rising to hit her bra, following to the point of discomfort between her shoulder blades.

If she had blushed before, this was nothing in comparison...feeling again Rui's hands on her skin was something for which, definitely, she was not prepared. Amid all her confused thoughts, she felt a great relief to feel gently fingernails on the surface of her back, she could even say that it felt good...it felt so good.

Rui, meanwhile, was enjoying the little time he had as an excuse to touch her, but when he tried to take his hand, he felt Tsukushi had leaned more against his chest and her hands were pressed against his arms. When he tried to turn around to see her, he saw that she had hidden her face.

—Don't do that...

He received no reply. Rui then abruptly moved away, grabbed her wrists and pushed her against the nearest wall.

—Do you know where we are? Do you know that this door will not open in at least 7 to 6 minutes? Do you know that here you have no chance of escape? Tsukushi, don't test me... I don't think I could…restrain myself...

Tsukushi said nothing, but Rui felt a pair of lips giving a kiss on the hand holding one of her wrists. With a gesture much smaller than that, he would've exploded.

All those days, every hour had seemed an eternity, unable to see each other, unable to speak directly; somehow both knew how hard it had been to be apart. Tsukushi didn't want to admit she was forgetting and relegating the space Tsukasa usually occupied in her heart, but right now, feeling Rui so close, there was no way of saying "no".

Strong but loving arms embraced her waist, and she did the same by holding Rui's shoulders. He stuck his face in her neck and became intoxicated with the aroma that her body emitted, time was short, the clock was running, he didn't wait more and kissed Tsukushi. A familiar feeling of nostalgia seized them as their lips and breaths crashed. Any thought was meaningless.

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—Tsukasa!

—I told you it wouldn't work, monkey! I told you!

—And it was my fault? How was I supposed to know that you would drop the stick so that someone else could pick it up?

Tsukasa knew it was true, that Shigeru had only tried to help with a plan quite fetched, but she had tried, but he could not accept that at the time, not when he knew that the girl he loved was locked in a space of 1x1 with the guy who wanted to steal her away.

—Damn it! —He said after kicking a table and make a beautiful vase broke into pieces

—Are you going to keep breaking my house? Let me know, so I can pass you the things, look, here—and Shigeru handed him a glass ornament.

Tsukasa turned to see her with pure pain in the eyes, he was going crazy, he didn't know what to do.

—This is not over yet ...

—Tsukasa...listen, I'm on your side and support you in whatever you decide...But Tsukushi will come back, you'll see. Now we need to return, there's just four minutes left, plus the 10 minutes I thought to give you were so you could shout, discuss or converse, I imagine she and Hanazawa will stand staring into space waiting time ends. Don't worry about it. What can happen in 10 minutes?

Tsukasa tried to calm down a bit, and then decided to break the ornament that Shigeru had offered him to finish releasing tension. Taking a deep breath, turned around and returned to the living room. It would all end soon.

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There were no words in between, something like that was unnecesary when minds are connected, when the skins are sought. Rui again stroked her back and undid two buttons of her blouse, and he received as an answer a female hand unbuttoning his. They both knew that the minutes passed, there were more people on the other side, that maybe doing this after having reached an agreement with Tsukasa was wrong, but those few seconds that were running only made the desire more intense. Rui's kisses went from being tender and gentle to more urgent and demanding, they gradually had ended sitting on the floor, still caressing and trying to take off the juice to all the remained time in that little closet. For once, Rui was the one taking full control of the situation, while he pleasantly received the caresses of Tsukushi's little hands, he preferred to have her captive, defenseless against his attack...That was some of what himself was surprised, he was discovering a new side of him. He delighted tasting again the skin that was within reach keeping Tsukushi's arms up against the wall, his hands were handcuffs against her wrists, the situation was more exciting for being where they were. Tsukushi could feel the Rui's lips wandering softly down her neck, his tongue along the lace of her bra, his warm breath leaving traces on her cheeks. In the midst of all the caresses, she panted heavily as she felt teeth sink into her shoulder and after that she was surprised to notice Rui was accommodating her clothes.

—No…

—Tsukushi…—He called giving her one last kiss, tender and pleasant—…there is no time, this will open soon and I don't want to have to explain what happened here, also, if I don't separate myself from you right now, I really won't be responsible for my actions...

She understood, but her head and her body had different opinions. Both got up and fixed their clothes quickly.

—Rui ...I want...

—There will be time to talk. Now we must go out

—But...

Tsukushi couldn't finish saying what she wanted since the doors opened. She was greeted by much light (or so it seemed after spending 10 minutes in the dark), music and laughter.

—So? How was it? —Asked Akira—You seem somewhat flushed.

And the truth was that both had rosy cheeks.

—What did you expect? I stood 10 minutes in an enclosed space, I felt like I was suffocating, really, I don't understand the appeal of this game—Tsukushi said sitting next to Yuuki and taking some soda.

—And you, Rui?

—Hmm? —He looked at him for a few seconds and then with an impassive face he answered—I'm sleepy…

—You are amazing! I cannot believe that you spent your time looking at the shrews.

Akira kept talking and Yuuki also wanted to get information from her friend, everyone was interested to know if something had happened in that closet, but there was a person sitting with a black mood carefully observing the facial expressions of the respondents. Rui seemed like always not even looking at Tsukushi, stating only that he was sleepy and wanted to go home to bed, she on the other hand, drank soda and excused the flush of her cheeks saying enclosed spaces were the worst. Tsukasa was infuriated for being unable to discern whether or not something happened.

Finally the King's game continued, but no one again gave a punishment like Shigeru to avoid a similar tension. They laughed, played, drank, ate, in short all had a good time, or...almost everyone.

—I think I better take you home—Ryounosuke said after seeing Yuuki yawn for the third time

—I'm not that sleepy, but you're right, there is school tomorrow...

—Me too—said Tsukushi

—Awww…really? —asked Shigeru

—Yeah, we're not all like you who already know all through college courses. I appreciate this, Shigeru, I had a blast.

—Seriously?

—Yes, seriously.

—I also had a great time

Tsukushi and Yuuki were suffocated by Shigeru's bear hug

—I think this puts an end to the night then. Are we all going or someone is staying?—Akira asked

Everyone decided it best to go and once outside decide the groups that would go together.

—Nanami-san, I think your house is on the way to mine, if you want I can take you.

—Thank you, Akira-san, actually that would be great. Soujiro, thank you very much for all your help today, I hope we can meet again soon.

—Don't doubt it—he said fixing a lock of hair behind her ear, a gesture that he took care everyone noticed.

—Shigeru-san, thank you so much for an amazing evening, we should do this.

—Of course! We'll see what comes to mind for next time.

While Akira and Nanami were saying goodbye, Yuuki had moved away from the group to talk to her mother by phone.

—...yes, yes mom, yes...it ended. I was just about to take a taxi to go home...yes, all very calm and very funny. Tsukushi is also with me...yes, I'll tell her...I see you in a while.

—You all right?—Tsukushi asked

—Yes, she just worries because it's a little late.

Soujiro couldn't help overhearing the conversation as much as he didn't want to and moved a little closer to the girls.

—Yuuki, I have my car here, I can take you if you want.

—Ah...thanks Soujiro-san, but...

—Are you ready, Yuuki-chan?

—Ryou-kun, yes. Sorry Soujiro-san, he offered to drop me off at home.

—And how are you going to take her? By bike?

—No, Okawahara-san did me the favor of giving me the number of a reliable taxi service.

—And I'm sure she offered to pay. I imagine you accepted?

Yuuki thought that was going too far, Soujiro had always been the kind of mocking some people, but always of the ones who weren't worth it, amid all she knew what his true personality was and this was beyond rude.

—Yes, she did

—I see

—But I declined. After all it's my first date with Yuuki-chan, what would become of me if I couldn't take her to the door of her home safe and sound in a trusted vehicle?

Soujiro was dumbfounded, he didn't think this guy was going to answer or that he was going to do it with such aplomb. It was obvious that he had realized that he was provoking him, but his blue and clean eyes showed a challenge he had failed to notice before.

—So, I appreciate your concern for her, Nishikado-san, but is I who is taking care of her now.

—Ryou-kun!

—Good night, Nishikado-san, today I had a great time, I hope I get invited to a next time. Shall we go?

—Y-Yes ... Good night.

Soujiro couldn't say or do anything, he just kept feeling that impotence inside him of not being able to take that guy and beat him over and over again, and the worst of it was that he shouldn't be feeling like that and he knew it…It was incomprehensible.

Meanwhile, Rui had offered Tsukushi to take her home, but Shigeru had ensured this wouldn't be by availing her driver to her friend to take her home. Tsukushi knew Shigeru and Tsukasa were together in some kind of weird plan to make her stop avoiding him and talk to him again, and knew that at some point she would have to do it whether she like it or not. The matter was she still needed to talk to Rui, at least to know what would happen after that encounter in the closet and she couldn't get a single second of privacy with Shigeru and Tsukasa being at her side at all times.

_This is ridiculous, I don't have to endure things like this._

-Rui, can I talk to you for a minute?

Three pairs of eyes looked at her surprised.

—Sure

—Hey, do you have to tell him a secret or something? You can speak with us here—Tsukasa rebuked seeing that she intended to move away from the group.

—What I have to tell him is not of your business, Domyouji.

Shigeru was clearly surprised with the attitude of her friend. She had always tried to carry the party in peace, but now she seemed to be taking charge of her heart without being willing to let anyone stop her.

—This is new—Rui told her

—What is?

—For you to do things so publicly when everyone knows we're in a somewhat strange situation. It is more common in me actually, but no one is surprised for the way I am.

—There was no other way, they wouldn't leave us alone until I that car arrived.

—I'm not complaining.

They both smiled.

—Rui...I, what happened now...

—It happened. There's no need for you to feel pressured by what happened in the closet.

—It's not pressure, it's just, it's like something is splitting me in half by what I want to do and what I have to do...

—Tsukushi, your time haven't run out yet, I will not ask you anything at all and especially by the fact that I know that you haven't had enough time with Tsukasa.

—Rui…

—Let me finish. The time we spent apart was hard for me, today I learned that for you it was too, but through it all you have to consider that you and I have almost always been together. This for us is rare. But with Tsukasa, it hasn't been like this, you fought whether you were together or not, but your link is also strong and you haven't yet had a chance to talk about what you feel and want.

—You know what he did, I had intentions to talk to him at some point but after his little tantrum...

—Yes, and he has always been like that and will remain so, but I hope him to mature in a few years. What I say is that you should give equal time to both, because you must leave your head out of the equation a bit and follow your heart. There was a time when I thought that no matter what, your smile would always be what would make me happier. Now I know that's a lie, it will be a diminished happiness, but I will not stop thanking that the man next to you makes you keep that radiant and strong countenance—he stared at her and sighed. He thought not speak so soon, but Rui had discovered so much in so little time that he couldn't remain silent— I love you(*), and that will not change even if you choose another.

(*) This is Ai Shiteru, the strongest way of saying "I love you" in Japan.

Tsukushi opened her eyes and felt his heart tremble under the weight of his words.

—Now, go and do what you need to do, just know that I will continue with you whatever happens.

Rui messed her hair and then went to the parking lot to pick up his car, it was necessary to give her that push, he wanted Tsukushi to choose him, it was the most selfish thing he had wanted in his life, but he knew if she was going to choose, she should do so with a clear mind and by her own hand, not because a moment of passion.

_I'm an idiot, a true idiot. Any other man would take her away and make her forget everything and everyone with kisses. But I cannot keep her with me if she is not 100% sure...I'm an idiot._

Shigeru and Tsukasa had observed the short scene and were not sure what it was that had happened. They only knew that after Rui left, Tsukushi had stood there staring anywhere with a puzzled expression. After a few seconds, they saw her approaching them again.

—Doumyouji

—What?

—I know you've been going every day to pick me up after school. Please don't do it, I'm still very busy with homework and the exams I'll take tomorrow. I cannot let you kidnap me for hours again.

—He kidnapped you?

—Long story. The thing is, I'm free on Thursday and there I will be able to see you after school. If you want us to talk about something we can do it on that day. What do you think? All I ask in return is that you leave aside the harassment—she said smiling

—I think I'm free on Thursday.

—Very well, then, I'm leaving. Shigeru, thank you again very much for everything, I hope to see you soon.

—Sooner than you know.

Tsukushi got into the car and went toward home.

—I told you, I told you this event would serve to bring you two together again.

—It was obvious that at some point she would come to me.

—All you have to do is try not to act like a baby and spy on her in every corner of the school.

—I didn't move a finger, she came to me alone

—Yeah...Well, don't you dare to ruin this opportunity cauliflower head. I wish you well, good night.

—Good night.

Tsukasa couldn't stop thinking about Tsukushi's words that day. She wanted to talk to him, surely to make things right, and he was convinced that all that time until Thursday was to take courage and correct her reasons.

_Okay Makino, soon you'll see exactly what you are losing if you keep up this stupid little game._

Tsukasa accelerated and laughed thinking about the next victory he would enjoy when he win back his girlfriend.


	10. A closure A beginning

**And yes! I'm back! I have no excuse and I can only apologize for taking so long in translating this chapter. I still have no new ideas for the next one, but I know that I'll have to make at least 4 more, hopefully this won't end soon. Any suggestions? **

**Hope you like it!**

* * *

><p>The new week came and Tsukushi could see that, contrary to everything she expected, Tsukasa was fulfilling his promise and she had not seen him stalking her, neither he nor his bodyguards. Because of that, she was calm, but on the other hand, she recalled that soon she would have a "date" with him; even more, the words "I love you" mentioned by Rui just days before had left her so impressed that she didn't know what answer to herself.<p>

On Wednesday she was more nervous than ever knowing what was coming the next day after school. She had not spoken to Rui even by text messages and she knew he was giving her the space she needed to think, but that space was worse because it made her feel as if she wasn't herself.

—Everything all right, Tsukushi? — Yuuki asked. It was late in the dango shop.

—Yes, all good...I guess. And you? I haven't seen you putting down that cellphone throughout the afternoon.

—Oh, I was just talking to Ryou-kun.

—How are you doing with that Yuuki? Do you like this guy?

—I can't say I don't like him, but you know everything I went through with Nishikado… Ryou knows what happened in a way.

—How's that?

—One day, after school, I stayed because I had daily duty, and amidst my thoughts, Nishikado-san appeared, and I wondered aloud "Won't I ever be right for you, Nishikado-san?" and I didn't realize that Ryou-kun was at the door of the clasroom...it was really funny because he approached me while saying "Well Matsuoka-san, if a guy thinks you're not right for him, it's because he's definitely blind ".

—He told you that right off the bat?

—We had talked a few times in class, but yeah, he came to tell me something like that. That day I was sad and, you were preoccupied with other things, so I allowed myself to tell him about some things that had happened. I never imagined that something like this would make us friends, or...well, you know.

—Sorry I wasn't there for you, Yuuki.

—Nonsense, you did everything you could.

—And if I can say it, that guy likes you, it's obvious, is noted from miles away. But the question is how you feel.

—Ryou-kun has been charming. I only mentioned the name of Nishikado-san that day, but as soon as I introduced him, he knew who he was. He knows how much I fell in love with him and he said he was willing to help me forget, but is not as easy as it sounds. I wanted to take a break, because it didn't seem fair to him, but as you've seen, he decides what he wants.

—Yes, I've noticed.

—And you, Tsukushi? You told me you would meet with Domyouji-san tomorrow.

—Oh, Yuuki, don't remind me. I still have no idea what I'll say.

—Do you still have feelings for Doumyouji-san?

—Well...it's not easy to forget everything that happened between us.

—I'm not talking about that, I'm talking about what you felt for him ... at the end you fell in love, you and I know it, but I don't see the same desire you had to fight for him like when you decided to take a plane to New York. If anything, I can advise you to follow your heart completely, you have no pressure from anybody, that's what you wanted, now what remains is that you be honest with yourself.

—I don't know Yuuki, it's been just two weeks off Domyouji so to speak, and it seems completely wrong to be so calm is not it? I feel bad because Domyouji ...

—You have to stop doing that, you have to stop thinking about how this will end if choose one or the other. Feel, don't think. When you finally decide you'll have more than enough time to worry about that.

—Tell me the truth...I'm a horrible person right?

—No, you just were injured to the point that your heart is split in two, and really I cannot imagine how difficult that must be for you. You want my opinion?

—Desperately.

—When you were with Domyouji-san there were times when I saw you very happy and joyful, but with Hanazawa-san...it's like someone turned a light inside of you, your eyes have a certain glow and your smile doesn't stop...There were many times in which I wondered why you chose Domyouji-san, but I know you did it for love, and there came a moment when you decided to be with him, so I didn't say a thing. But now, after everything that happened between Hanazawa-san and you in Hawaii, I'm sure your heart has reminded who it belonged to at first.

—Yuuki I…don't feel good, it's not fair... —Tsukushi leaned against the wall—Is it possible I'm forgetting Doumyouji so easily? Is it possible that everything I said to feel for him has been so weak?

—Tsukushi—Yuuki hugged her friend—is not like that, I really think so...But remember that the first time you decided to be with Domyouji-san was because he practically forced you, in the end you fell for him but what was the price? Your whole story was bumpy and full of problems and not all were fault of his mother, many were for his own whim. I don't think he is a bad person but…I believe he never managed to get all your heart. Tsukushi, look at me. Ask yourself this: What if Domyouji-san were to leave? If tomorrow suddenly he had to catch a plane for business and get out of our lives for years—Tsukushi stared at her and tried to imagine her life without him, she thought that it was somewhat difficult, but not impossible. Yuuki watched her reaction, her friend had said nothing—And now what if Hanazawa-san was in the same scenario? —This time, Tsukushi couldn't think, she just felt nauseous and a strong grip took over hear heart, as if someone was forcing it to beat faster, her eyes were flooded and fresh tears wet her face while Yuuki realized that her friend's body was more honest than her head, the reactions were so different that there was no doubt...

—What will I do!? —Tsukushi was crying so much that Yuuki ran to the door to turn the sign "Open" to "Closed", it was almost time to close anyway—Yuuki, how can it be? It was just two weeks, two bloody weeks, and I...I...

—I think that anyone who had gone through what you have, would have given up long before. Look at you...look what state you are in. Maybe you actually never stopped loving him.

Tsukushi was unable to speak...it was impossible, unbelievable; anyone who saw her would think she was the worst, choosing the best friend of her ex-boyfriend.

The tears continued for some time, Yuuki could only sit next to her friend and comfort her in which, she knew, was a decision that had not arrived because she wanted, it was all matter of the heart. But, be that as it may, she was sure it hurt Tsukushi to think about Tsukasa and how to have realized her true feelings for Rui seemed a betrayal to him.

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Rui, in that instant, was having dinner with his family. Her mother had noted that the last three days he had been more quiet than usual, even had missed two days at school. Not that it really mattered, since Rui knew everything that was being taught and more, all that school stuff was more like a review, but still. And besides all that, he spent his time looking at his cellphone as if he wanted to call someone, but always ended up closing the lid, sighing and going to sleep or walk.

—Son—Rui turned to listen to the voice of his mother. He was sitting on one of the balconies of the second level study—What's wrong? You seem odd. On Monday you went to school just until noon and the last few days you've spent at home I've noticed you're worried.

It was true, he had decided not to go to school since every hour spent on it on Monday became impossible knowing she was so close. He knew it would be difficult, but not so much. He had to get away, so he missed.

—It's nothing, mother, I'm just a little worried

—Is it something you can tell me? Maybe I can help.

—I don't know...Can you?

Hikari was surprised that her son spoke to her like that, but not in a bad way, she had always wanted to have more confidence with him and now that she was perennial at home, she had tried to talk more with her child in an attempt to let him know that she was there for him.

—I hope so—she pulled a chair beside his son, but when she sat, she noticed there were several cans of beer at Rui's feet, maybe that was the cause of his disinhibition, but now was not the time to worry about that.

—Falling in love...I think is something so ridiculous.

—Why do you say that?

—Because it really makes you stupid. You can't think straight, can't sleep, don't want to eat, want to stay away and need all of your willpower and more to avoid making a mistake. The routine becomes more terrible than ever and you are angry at everything and everyone...if love is like that, I don't understand why everyone seeks it.

—Who is it?

—Who?

—The person you are in love with—Hikari wondered but knew deep down that most likely the name that haunted her head would be the name to come out of the mouth of her son.

—The poorest girl in Eitoku, the only working class virgin, the number one screamer that made the mighty F4 fear and respect her—he sighed heavily—I'm in love with Makino Tsukushi…Isn't it ridiculous to be in love with her when I know that most likely she won't correspond to my feelings?

—Why wouldn't she?

—Because I, like an idiot, was dumb enough to not realize my feelings, and at the know of them, throw her into the arms of my best friend knowing that she loved him...and now, she does not know who to love...

—Tsukasa?

—Exactly! The great Domyouji Tsukasa! —Rui rose with a can in hand and drank what was left. He then threw the can down the balcony—My best friend, my brother, I would put my life in his hands without hesitation twice, and yet we both had to fall in love with the same person. Everything would be easier if I could still push her to his side with a smile on my face.

—Would you feel better doing that?

Rui looked at her mother and laughed.

—I must be really drunk right? To be talking these things...with you!

—I'm glad you do, if you want I can order to bring more to drink for you, but running away is not the solution.

—I didn't run, not anymore, I went and told her, I said "I Love You" without any kind of notice. She was so surprised that she didn't know what to say, haha ...I even thought the time in Hawaii would give me an advantage, but now I don't know...

_So it was with her who he really was in Hawaii _—thought Hikari_._

—So the issue is that Tsukushi has to make a decision? You or Tsukasa?

—Yep, so...I told her to talk to him, that she has to fix what she feels, but then, perhaps it will happen as usual: they'll fight, they'll cry, then will look in the eyes and realize that they are meant to be and I'll end up like the best man and best friend on their wedding day.

_¡PAF!_

Rui suddenly felt his cheek burn, someone had given him a slap and that someone had been his father.

—Dear…!

Riku had followed his wife to the study in order to have some time alone with her without knowing that he would find his son drunk and depressed. After listening for a while, he decided to intervene.

—Hanazawa Rui, you are behaving in a deplorable and humiliating way. If you already told your feelings to this young woman and did everything that was in your power to prove that you loved her, you should hold on to her and every ounce of hope there is, because until she doesn't say yes to another man, that means you have an opportunity. Stop this nonsense and fight for the woman you love, you're not a child.

Rui was eyes wide with shock. His father then did something that surprised him even more, he took him by the shoulders and pulled him into a hug.

—My son, do not make the same mistakes I did. It was a fluke of fate that your mother could become my wife and she was the one who suffered the most and did her best to be by my side and to bring you into this world—Releasing him, he went to his wife and kissed her hand—Once you've decided to fight for something, you better do it until the end. What are you? Are you a man who gives up so easily?

—No, father.

—Very well then,—He said this with a smile on his lips—you wouldn't be my son if you thought like that. Now go wash and rest, this is not over until it's over. Did you hear me?

—Yes, Father.

Rui was almost sober after so many surprises that night. After the slap of his father he had noticed the way he had spoken to his mother, but she, far from being angry, was showing a beaming smile on her face. Besides that, his father had hugged him and given him advice to fight for the person he loved. Never in his wildest dreams would Rui have thought that he could trust his parents like that.

_Rui, I know that your parents love you, is only a matter of speaking a little more. Don't be afraid, you'll see it will be easy_

Those were the words Tsukushi had told Rui after he spoke with her about the nervousness he felt around his parents that day when he took her to school in a limo to speak with Shigeru.

Determined to seize the last shadow of drunkenness he had and, therefore, of courage, he approached his mother and gave her a hug.

—Good night...m-mom.

Hikari would had sprouted tears of joy at that moment if it was not because she knew she had to hold it until Rui left.

—Good night, son. You will see that everything will be fine—She said as she stroked his brown hair.

He turned to Riku and noticed it was the first time he really looked directly into the eyes of his father, while they were severe, they denoted the strength of a man who had been through a lot during his life and also they radiated kindness if you really stopped and watch.

—Father... —Riku put his hand on his shoulder and gave him a little squeeze—Dad, thank you...and good night.

—Have a good night, son.

Rui left the room between embarrassed and happy, but knew he would definitely rest well.

—Riku...oh, Riku.

—You got your dream, my love?

—Yes dear, it was so unexpected that I can't yet believe it—Riku saw how tears wet the cheeks of his wife, but knew that they were tears of happiness at being able to have done something as a mother for Rui. That had always been her greatest dream and it hurt him she couldn't have done it for so many years because of work. He himself was surprised at his behavior toward his son, but could not say he regretted anything he had said or done, his son was his pride and he loved him deeply, but being the man he was, he was never able to prove it. Perhaps, this was the opportunity they were waiting.

—Master, apologies. Can I send someone to clean? —A butler had appeared.

—Yes please, thank you.—the butler excused himself and went to get the staff—And now... —before his wife knew it, she found herself raised in the arms of her husband.

—Dear!

—What? Tonight is definitely to celebrate, and it strikes me more than one an idea to do so—he whispered in her ear.

Hikari gave him a kiss on the lips as he moved into the hallway that lead to their room. Definitely, they needed to celebrate.

oº°˚˚°ºoº°˚˚°ºoº°˚˚°ºoº°˚˚°ºoº°˚˚°ºoº°˚˚°ºoº°˚˚°ºoº°˚˚°ºoº°˚˚°ºo

Tsukasa was waiting outside the school, he had sent a text message to Tsukushi saying he would be outside the classroom, but she had responded with a request to meet out of school. He agreed.

The last three days had been hell, he forced himself to bury in work in order to have no time to go see her, he had asked the head of his personal security to dismiss any order of watch her under the threat of letting his mother know if he ever asked. Tsukasa had put everything on his part to keep his promise even if he had sweated blood.

—Hello—he heard a voice greeting him

—Hell…o

Tsukushi was wearing light blue jeans, a red and white patterned jacket and her hair and face had been done. She looked very pretty.

—Shigeru—she told him at his reaction. The truth was that her friend had managed to get her out of the classroom half an hour before to prepare her for the occasion. Tsukushi already knew how useless it would be to discuss, so she let her do whatever she wanted. Besides, she had her forces focused on keeping her mind clear and on what she would have to tell Tsukasa sooner or later on that "date".

—Well, shall we go?

—Yes, of course.

Tsukushi got carried away into a restaurant which again was emptied only for them, but she made no comment about it.

—Ask for whatever you want—Tsukushi was about to open the menu but then... —although I would recommend the prawns with cabbage salad and apples for entry.

Tsukushi sighed.

—Why don't you choose?

Tsukasa could not be happier and arranged for the dishes. Tsukushi couldn't complain about the taste, after all, it was a top restaurant, but couldn't help thinking that it was he who always wanted to impose on what to eat. She had noticed that she never ordered in any of the times they went out together and the few times he had eaten her kind of food, it had been a disaster.

The meal passed without further delay and they only talked of trivialities. Neither of them seemed willing to take the first step to talk about what they really had gone to talk. After lunch, Tsukasa had prepared a viewpoint overlooking the sea and, again, only them were in that place. Tsukushi couldn't help but think of Hawaii and shook her head, she couldn't compare, she couldn't.

—Did you enjoy the food?

—Everything was very nice, Domyouji. Thank you.

—That's good.

Silence.

—Domyouji, I think it's time to talk to us. Don't you think?

—Yes, I was coming here to do so—He approached her and took her hand—Tsukushi, I'm willing to forget everything that happened with you and Rui in Hawaii because I know what I did in New York was really bad too. My mother will not interfere with my decisions again and you can be sure I'll be by your side and on your side forever.

—Domyouji...

I know it's been hard for both of us, but now we can get back together without involving third parties. I will not let Rui confuse you again, is me who will be with you.

Although it seemed unlikely, all these words Tsukasa was saying distilled the utmost sincerity and affection without a single drop of arrogance and that was exactly what ended up deciding Tsukushi to what she had noticed the night before.

—Domyouji. What we have is…so weird! We are right and we are wrong. I think we get along much better when we discuss that when we try to be sticky like other couples, and I spend it incredibly well when we do, when we foolishly insult each other and when we fight for no reason. But things have also happened over which we can't have control...Everything I felt for you was not a lie and...

—Wait, did you say "felt"?

—I'm not sure how I should use the terminology of the time, I still love you, but...not like before. Doumyouji is no longer the same.

—Say no more—he pulled away from her and turned away.

—Are you going to shut me up again? Every time I'm about to say something you do not want to hear I end up getting hurt.

—How can you say something like that?

—Because it's true, I never wanted to take it as that, but it's true. I feel as if I am something very precious to you Domyouji, therefore you are not willing to hear from anyone an opinion different from yours. Didn't the last time I talked about my feelings towards Rui finished with you flipping the table?

—That was...

—And also, you left me alone again…This time there was no pressure from your mother, you weren't trying to protect me or my friends, it was completely your decision.

—You were getting on my nerves.

—And it will be like that in the future! Do you think that everything would always be happiness?

—If you're by my side, yes.

—No, Domyouji...At some point we will fight seriously again and you'll yell and I'll scream and when I tell you "leave me alone" because I need a space, are you planning to go without looking back waiting for me to realize my mistake since it's you who's always right? I can't have that uncertainty with me forever. You say that you'll forget what happened in Hawaii? Let me tell you that I do not consider as wrong none of what I did there...Besides that you're making it sound like "we're even" and it's not like that. You are forming excuses and apologies for your behavior. "I did something wrong and she did something wrong, But let's leave it at that" Say it isn't that what is going through your head.

—It will not be like that again, I promise you...Makino, I will change from today, from this moment.

—Sorry...

—No...

—Domyouji...

—NO!

—I can't return to you— Tsukushi began to cry—I love you, really love you, but the deepness of the feeling is so different now...This is not something of today or last week, this…I don't know since when, but I know I had not noticed.

—Why are you doing this? —Tsukasa was crying—You want to punish me for all the harm you say I did to you?

—If it were in my hands, I would never want to hurt you, Doumyouji, but I can't take it anymore...All this time I've based my decisions on someone else's feelings, and it is true that eventually my feelings changed, but now...I just want think in what it is that I want.

Tsukushi approached him and it broke her heart to see his tears, but she knew that if she faltered at that moment, all that was said would not have helped. She unzipped her coat and Tsukasa saw she was wearing a necklace. For a scant second he came to think the Saturn pendant would be there, but when Tsukushi pulled the chain, he saw no pendant...he saw a ring.

Tsukushi was engulfed strongly in the arms of Tsukasa and for the first time, she felt him cry inconsolably as a little boy. The stifled sobs and cries didn't stop and she was trying to hold it everything she could, it didn't seem fair to show more weakness than the one already displayed.

—I love you and that will never change you hear me? I will not give up...Tsukushi

That was more than he expected, he had never said her name.

—With you I lived things I never ever imagined and you made me discover facets of me that I didn't think existed. Arigato...Tsukasa.

She clearly knew that this was the farewell, her whole being was sad, but she knew that in part, she felt free, she knew she was doing the right thing, she never had a doubt while she was talking to him and she realized that from now on things would be difficult or uncomfortable, but that was how it should be.

—I have to go.

—I'll take you home.

—N ...I'll be fine. And you will be too, you'll see...Bye bye.

And it was so, amid tears and a bitter goodbye that Tsukushi and Tsukasa ended.

He could only watch as the only woman he had ever loved was becoming smaller and smaller as she walked away from him. He had gone with so much confidence that he would get to convince her to return to him, that it would be like any other time they fought...but he was wrong. What hurt him most was knowing that all that Tsukushi had said were true. He always knew, she had not loved him from the start as it had happened to him and that is why he had insisted so much in cashing her until he got her, but...still, he couldn't do anything to change that damn character of his. His worst mistake was New York, and never, not in his most horrible dreams would he have thought that Rui would tell her how he felt. He sensed it from long ago, what had happened between them on that beach, though brief, was real, it seemed the only one who had not noticed in time had been Rui and at finding Tsukushi in that way in New York, he was not able to restrain himself any longer.

He felt his pocket vibrate. It was a message from Shigeru.

_I really hope I'm not interrupting ^^. Did you like as how I arranged Tsukushi? __You better did. If you have not planned anything until later come to my house to celebrate!_

She was like Soujiro, so sure that Tsukushi would return to him just because she had always done so...now everything was different, now the person who had captured her heart was none other than his best friend, the person he considered his brother. Perhaps the only thing worse than losing Tsukushi that afternoon, was knowing that deep down, most likely, with him she would be better.

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The next day was unbearable. Tsukushi had gotten up with swollen eyes and all morning she had a headache, she just wanted one thing but was not sure how to do it.

During the day she had not seen anyone from the F4 and wondered how long it would take the rest of the guys to know, if you they didn't know already...Did Rui know? She hoped not, she wanted to tell him, but she wasn't sure of how exactly.

_At least it is finally Friday, I can rest before having to think about what to do now_—Tsukushi thought. That evening she had also asked the dumplings store for a free afternoon and had promised Yuuki to tell her everything later. She walked home slowly, going over what had happened the previous day, trying not to but it was inevitable, after all Tsukasa had been, was and would be a very important part in her life. She sighed for the fiftieth time that day when suddenly her footsteps stopped a few meters before her door.

—You're late.

Rui was leaning on the wall. Obviously, she invited him in.

—Sorry about the mess, I have not worried much about it these days.

—I can imagine. Sorry for coming without warning, it's just...

_I wanted to see you..._

No, he couldn't say anything, he couldn't push his luck.

Tsukushi looked at him, somehow guessing what he meant, since she had thought about seeing him all day.

—Would you like some tea?

Tsukushi quickly put water to boil, while waiting, they talked about her classes and what she was intending to do in order to study at a university.

I don't think my parents can keep paying Eitoku and I really don't mind taking the carreer in a public university.

—You know that...

—Yes, I know, but I can't have such a debt with you.

The teapot rang and Tsukushi turned her neck, it was then that Rui saw it: a necklace.

A strong blow fell directly into his stomach. All fears he had that week confirmed in his head as he realized that the collar of Saturn had returned to its place. Stupidly, according to him, he fixed his gaze on her fingers as she brought the cups and found no ring. He knew that his happiness would be diminished, but had not realized how much until that moment when he realized that his best friend and the girl he loved had come back together.

—Good for you, Makino.

—What do you mean? Why the "Makino"?

—It will be difficult, but I'll be able to raise my walls up against the rest of the world once again, also, I didn't lie when I said that while I saw your smile I would be happy...

—Rui?

—I thank you for all you know? I didn't think it would last so much from the start, but I'm glad all the same for the experience.

—What the hell are you talking about? Speak clearly at once because I don't understand.

—No need for you to understand, I'm just talking to myself—Rui smiled but Tsukushi noticed that smile didn't reach his eyes—I better go, we wouldn't want Tsukasa to arrive and think we're doing something .

Rui got up but felt someone pulling at his sleeve.

—Leave it, I couldn't bear it if you pity me.

—What is wrong with you!? Does the tea smelled funny? I don't understand a word...

—Is it necessary that I say it out loud? Fine...When you returned to Tsukasa that left me out, I have nothing to do here. Now I understand why you put that face when you saw me, you didn't know how to tell me right? Don't worry, everything's fine, we will remain friends, or I can continue to treat you as my pet...

_¡PAF!_

Lately Rui was getting more slaps than he felt he deserved. Now he noted that Tsukushi had her eyes flooded and she was red, but with anger.

—Is that what you came to tell me? Are you somehow in an indirect way telling me to return to him? Very well! You know what? Maybe I'll do that, after all, I don't think it's too late to do it...But here, take this with you on your way out.

Tsukushi fought to take off the necklace and threw it at Rui. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. She had been nervous since she had seen him, but only because she didn't know how to tell him that she was willing to try something with him if he was willing to receive her broken and shattered as she was. But now the young master in front of her looked like, in a subtle way, he wanted to throw her back into the arms of his best friend. The lack of sleep, sadness, nervousness and stress in general of recent days accumulated and she ended up yelling at him in the hall of the door, she turned around and went into the bathroom which had no lock, but she didn't care because she was always alone.

Rui, on the other hand, was puzzled to see all Tsukushi's reaction, he didn't understand why he would have to take something that represented the love of those two, but when he picked up the necklace from the floor, all he wanted was that it would swallow him whole. Instead of observing a pendant with the seventh planet, there hung a beautiful silver ring with a Hawaiian flower in the middle.

—¡Tsukushi!

—Go... —it was obvious from her voice that she was crying.

—Please listen to me...I'm sorry, really sorry, I was an idiot, a fool, a jerk for not asking first and simply assume that you...that you. Please open the door.

—Why should I?

—Because I love you...I really I love you and I can't take it anymore...

Tsukushi was not expecting to hear something like that after all the nonsense that Rui had said at first.

—You have no idea of what I went through this week. My pessimism was something that made even me feel pathetic this time. I couldn't go to school because I knew that somehow I'd try to find you and I was determined to give you your space, you needed to think of Tsukasa this time to define what it was that was going through your heart. My own parents found me in a deplorable state on Wednesday and, trust me, it was the first time that we communicated so openly, and I owe that to you...I came today thinking somehow to ask you if you'd decided something, but seeing the necklace around your neck I assumed that was the one Tsukasa had given you, so I just wanted to run away. I'm surprised, I didn't think I would react so badly to something that was very likely. But now, I need to hear it from you Tsukushi, what happened yesterday?

Rui heard only silence.

—All right, I understand you do not want talk right now. Again, I ask you to forgive me, I'll go, but I'll be back soon okay?

He was careful to leave the necklace hanging from the handle and walked away from the door, he was just a few steps from the hall when he heard a slight creak.

—You're a fool ... —he turned to see her

—I know, and I'm sorry.

—You simply go out there, assuming whatever you want.

—You're right—they began to approach.

—It was not easy you know? It was sad for me to have to leave Tsukasa like that, but I can't deny that...

—...What?

—I'm in love with you, Rui.

Rui hugged her tightly and she did the same. He could not believe his ears, had se really said she had left Tsukasa? At least he knew that the best evidence was the necklace she was wearing, but still, it seemed too amazing.

He pulled himself from her a bit and took care of cleaning her tears. She smiled a little at seeing the great expression of happiness that flowed from his face, even Rui's cheeks were colored.

They both wanted to say something, but the words didn't connect at that moment. How much time had passed since that first meeting? How long had they felt something for each other but had not noticed? Tsukushi knew that she had not lied when she fell for Tsukasa and Rui knew that it had been really hard to forget Tsukasa, but as they looked in each other's eyes, they could see that, at that time, only they mattered in their hearts, there was no other response or other logic, they loved each other...and damn the world if all this was coming against them.

Tsukushi then did something Rui didn't expect. She passed her arms around his neck and kissed him tenderly. The two began backing to a wall and then dropped down to the floor, never breaking the kiss. After a few minutes that seemed like hours, they separated. He was the first to speak.

—I want you with me, I need you by my side Tsukushi.

—So do I...

—I do not want, to pressure you but... —he laughed a little—God, what is wrong with me

—The same as me, I hope, I feel that at any moment I might pass out

—Be my girlfriend—He whispered. For a few seconds Tsukushi wasn't sure of what she'd heard, but she was sure of the central word—When did I become so? What have you done to me? —He asked her pressing her against his body and hiding his face in her neck.

—Yes.

Rui released her as if burned with something. He didn't think he had registered the word correctly in his brain, but Tsukushi's blush flush and her tender expression made him understand that he had heard right. She then saw a smile she was sure she had not seen before, she could even swear she saw a small tear in the corner of his eyes.

They both laughed still hugging and sitting on the floor, their foreheads glued and kissing freely now that they had finally openly said their feelings for each other. There would be time to think of the consequences the next day, this night, only the two of them mattered.

Rui and Tsukushi were together...at last...


	11. Red hearts, strong hearts

**Wuujuuuuu! ****Two following days of updates in my fics, my Muse is back! I'm so happy. I'm really sorry for not updating in so long, but I hope you're still out there, hidden and giving me support. **

**Love you! Thank you very much for still being here.**

* * *

><p>Shigeru was somewhat annoyed, but just a little. After all, she had sent a message to Tsukasa waiting to see him and Tsukushi in her home last night to celebrate they were together again, but she never received a response, nevertheless she understood that they should be so lovey-dovey that they forgot the whole world, those two could certainly be unbearable when they wanted to.<p>

Therefore, Shigeru skipped her last class and went to Eitoku to visit the lovebirds and bother them a little. Upon arriving, she went straight to the garden patch where she knew the F4 met and found Akira and Soujiro.

—Hey guys.

—What's up Shigeru?—Akira asked.

—How are you? —Soujiro asked.

—I'm good. I'm looking for Tsukasa and Tsukushi.

—Well I saw Tsukushi in the hallways, but no trace of Tsukasa.

—I'll call her—she said excited, but she was surprised that the cellphone was off—That's strange, she's not answering. Can any of you call Tsukasa?

Soujiro tried, but even though it rang, there was no answer on the other side of the line.

—Now what? I don't want to stay with the desire to know what happened for so long.

—What happened?

—If you want to find out you have to accompany me to Tsukasa's house, it's likely they're there. Will you come?

—I can't Shigeru, my mother forced me to make another tea ceremony for her vapid friends and I won't be able to free from that, but maybe Akira can go.

—I can, I have all the afternoon, and I'm curious to know what is going on.

—You'll have a big surprise…

Both of them said good bye and Akira, after 10 minutes in the car, managed to get the information from Shigeru. He was surprised to learn of her plan and was not sure if it would work, after all, it had not been long since the incident _Café à la Carte_ and was worried to know how will Tsukushi react to all that.

Certainly Akira painted himself as Switzerland, completely neutral, as he had said before. Rui had noticed something subtly, but the truth was that he had not lied when he spoke of what he felt. Tsukushi was so different from all the girls and women he had known throughout his life, he and all the F4 to be honest, so it was inevitable that was attracted to her in some way or another, though his was a very different way. Tsukushi seemed to have her own orbit when she passed by him and he could not help but gravitate towards her. Over time, he had come to entrust her many things, some that he had told only to Soujiro, but he was sure that those thing would never leave her mouth, that was who she was, faithful and loyal to the end. He couldn't say he loved her like a sister, but if something were to happen, even if it was at the hand of one of his own friends, he would defend her if necessary.

That was why he was so concerned about this "perfect plan" that Shigeru told him about. But, anyway, while Tsukushi was happy and protected, he would be well served.

They arrived to Tsukasa's home and when the butler received them, he told them that "young master Doumyouji" was not in good condition.

—But what's wrong? Let us go see him…

—I do not think that's a good idea, young master.

—Let them go

—Madam…

Tsukasa's mother, Doumyouji Kaede, entered elegantly coming down the central stairs of her mansion.

—They can see him if they wish, it is necessary that someone makes that boy react and it better be soon, we have many things to do.

Akira and Shigeru looked at each other confused, but soon headed to Tsukasa's room. First they knocked, but received no response. Shigeru was the one that opened the door to realize with surprise that an hurricane seemed to had passed through this space: everything was destroyed, broken or thrown on the ground, including Tsukasa, who was sitting under one of the windows

—Tsukasa! But what happened here?—Akira approached him as fast as the obstacles in his feet could carry him, but Tsukasa did not seem to have realized that someone else was in the room, he didn't give any sign to have recognized any of his two friends.

Tsukasa? Are you okay? Did your mother do something? Have she found out that yesterday you were with Tsukushi?

And it seemed as if the name had been the catalyst for reviving the curly-haired boy. He looked up with eyes that, until a few seconds ago, had been lost and watched two people crouching in front of him.

—What are you doing here?

—I came looking for you because I was expecting to see you yesterday with Tsukushi at my house! And you never answered my message…But Tsukasa, if your mother has again come between you two, just tell us so that we-

—The old witch did nothing; I was the one who did everything…

And to the surprise of both, Tsukasa began to cry. And it was not that he was sobbing or wailing, his eyes seem to have left open the flow of tears and they came out without any control, sliding down the furrows already marked during previous hours of lamentations.

As much as they tried to make him talk or comfort him, there seemed to be nothing to calm the leader of the F4 that now was as sad as a young child. Akira offered to help him take a bath and Shigeru went to talk to the servitude so they could clean up that room and told the butler that they would take the best guest room so Tsukasa had a place to rest; after all, his mattress had been torn to the point of leaving the springs visible.

Shigeru waited for an hour until he saw Akira again, now wearing other clothing and Tsukasa, wrapped in a bathrobe.

—I tried to put clothes on him, but he doesn't seem to want to get dressed right now. His hands are hurt by broken glass and porcelain, like the soles of his feet and knees. You'd better call a doctor to review his wounds—he said to the steward, who quickly went to locate the family doctor.

Shigeru led Tsukasa to the bed and sat him down there, she was not sure what to say, she had never seen him like that. He had behaved cocky, annoying, angry, disinterested and, at some point, had been sad. But this? This went beyond that, Tsukasa was literally projecting his pain and anyone who saw him could feel it.

—Tsukasa… what happened yesterday with Makino? —Akira asked.

—Yesterday...nothing happened...

— What do you mean nothing? Look at you; please tell us what happened.

—If you want to know what's wrong with me, Shigeru, I wouldn't know what to say because something like this never happened to me, I never felt something like this. It's as if I were…empty. All my life I've been used to getting and do whatever I wanted, to force anyone to do what I commanded and if he didn't want to do it, I will pay, what was the big deal?...They could all be bought…But she had come to change it all you know? She came to break all the schemes with which I grew up, everything that was set in the very core of my being since the day I was born. At this point I wouldn't mind to be stripped of everything, including my name, if it meant that she would choose me.

Akira and Shigeru were speechless…by saying something like that, there was only one meaning.

—No way…Tsukushi wouldn't do that, she wouldn't choose-

—Rui? Why not? After all, he treated her much better than I could at some point, and you have no idea how _cliché_ this sounds, but now I know very well what they mean by you not knowing what you have until lose it, because now…I have lost her forever. She made her choice and I can't do anything to change that decision and it kills me inside.

Fresh tears started coming out of his eyes and Tsukasa could only laugh, ashamed to show such weakness, but he was tired of being strong, being the leader, the heir to Japan…Everyone could go fuck themselves at that moment. He alone had alienated the most important person in his life.

Akira couldn't think of anything to say, so he decided to stay with him because he couldn't imagine what one of his best friends was going through. On the other hand, Shigeru was divided between feeling a deep sadness for Tsukasa and feeling anger for what Tsukushi was doing to him. Didn't she realize how much he loved her?

_If it were me.. if it were me, I would never let him suffer like this... _

Without saying anything else, she quickly left the room and called his driver.

—To Tsukushi's hose…Now!

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Rui was lying on a futon chatting pleasantly with Tsukushi.

—You really can't tell me why? —She asked.

—No, because I really don't know. To be honest I found you incredibly annoying, but I was attracted to the way you lived. Everyone hated you, mistreated you and yet you would not stop fighting, I'm not sure what it was that caught my eye, but there was something and I'm happy for that.

He and Tsukushi had ended up laying on her futon after sharing kisses and promises, typically, silence was their usual and comfortable companion, but now it seemed like a good time to talk about what they felt and what they went through to get to that point in their lives.

—I think the first thing that struck me was your eyes. I always found them very beautiful.

Rui blushed a little but smiled broadly. Truth was he couldn't remember the last time he had felt so happy, so full of joy. Not even being with Shizuka had been like this.

—To be honest, when you said on the airport that you didn't want to come back to reality, I thought that was my chance, I had to prove somehow that I was serious about you and, perhaps, with a little luck, you would turn to look at me again.

—But even if we were only friends, you were always there Rui, you never went away…

—No, and from now on it will be the same, in fact, I will be so close that you'll get bored, so now I have to think of ways to keep you interested in me…Do you like diamonds, Tsukushi?

They both knew he was joking and burst out laughing. Rui knew she would never be interested in such things as the other girls in his social status, she will always have a free and easy spirit, and that made him feel more in love with her.

Without much thought, he turned to kiss her for God knows what time, he had lost count, and she received him with open arms. The kiss lasted a bit longer than planned, but none of them seemed to mind, except perhaps, for Rui's hand had ended somehow, dangerously close to Tsukushi's bosom.

He separated a few seconds, it was necessary that she knew he desired her more than anything, but he was willing to wait for what she wanted. She in turn, felt her heart beating as fast as it did that warm evening in Hawaii, the only difference was that at that time it had been with nervousness and anticipation, but now it was with the knowledge of what those hands could provide and the need to experience it again.

None of this had been said, but somehow they both understood that they were facing a line begging to be crossed. Rui looked at her all the time it took him to lay his hand on her breast and she couldn't do the same at the feeling of the touch as she let out a shaky breath.

The first time was experimental, perhaps more for her than for him, but now the movements were more fluid, and the kisses were slow and deep. Tsukushi's hands found the courage to help Rui get rid of his clothes and not for one moment did she think she was rushing this…on the contrary, some small part of her brain was yelling at her for not having done this before.

Obviously, not everything could be perfect, she still felt embarrassed to be naked, but Rui calmed every doubt with his lips, his fingers, his breath and his words.

—You are so beautiful.

And it seemed that he repeated that again and again, he told her exactly what he thought of every portion of her anatomy and that served to make her blush even more, but it was also a great food to her self-esteem and her female instinct by feeling beautiful and desired by man before her.

When he touched her again in the most intimate part of her body, pleasurable spasms were scattered in every nerve ending. Memories soared in her mind of something hard and warm her hands had felt and touched before.

—Rui…C-Can I t-touch you too?

The brown-haired boy could not help to draw a seductive smile on his lips. He separated his fingers from the moisture they were in for a moment and led one of Tsukushi's hands where it wanted to go.

—You can touch as much as you want, all of me is yours and I surrender to you at will. I'm yours to do with me whatever you desire.

He could feel her trembling fingers touching again the hardness of his body and shivered. There was no comparison to what he had felt in Hawaii, as he returned to supply caresses into Tsukushi, she whispered in his ear how she felt, asking for more as he performed and reached the point where his own erection became painful for not obtaining the release he needed.

When he finally was positioned between her legs, he noticed that both were covered with a thin layer of sweat and completely naked facing each other, after all, it was simple to undress and have sex, people did that all the time. But to open your soul to someone, letting him or her into your spirit, share all your thoughts and feelings…that was actually being naked and he felt that both had been from the first moment they kissed on that beach years ago. But ti was this moment when he felt the pressure, he would be her first and hopefully the only one. It wasn't fear what stopped him but admiration of knowing what he was about to do.

She noticed the look of Rui had changed, his body trembling slightly and he was as agitated as her. Was he wondering if she was scared? Since that was the last thing she felt at that moment. Tsukushi took one hand to his cheek ...

—愛してる (Ai shiteru)

Rui could have lost control at that moment, but his desire to make her experience all he felt for her held him back.

He began the difficult task of entering Tsukushi without hurting her, but he knew that it would hurt at least a little. He indicated her to bring her hands to his neck and to bit his lips as hard as she wanted before kissing her and bring his entire length into her body. She felt the sharp pain she was expecting for a few seconds and tried to relax, he stood still and repeated that he loved her, that she was beautiful and he was sorry for making her feel bad somehow.

Passionate kisses were exchanged and a harmonious pace began to form between two bodies that have longed for each other. Instinct told Tsukushi what to do and she was surprised at her actions, so open and carefree, but she knew that only in front the person she loved she would be able to show herself that way.

Rui had stopped thinking a long time ago and could only be aware of the sensations in his body, the tightness, moisture and heat that enveloped him, the marks of nails Tsukushi was surely leaving on his back, of her mouth , her eyes, her moans, her skin, her body…her, it was her, everywhere, inside and outside. He thanked the heavens that Tsukushi's orgasm came because he didn't know how much longer he would've been able to endure. Two, three, four more thrusts and his body fell apart in pulses that released all the desire he had kept repressed for so long.

—Don't trust my balance, I think all my strength left me—he told her asking for help to lay beside her.

—I think is the same for me, you know?

Tsukushi had seen any other movie or series, and usually after doing "it" most couples seemed to stay hugging, or she using his arm as a pillow, but the truth was that the whole aftermath was uncomfortable, dirty and tiring, which caused her to laugh.

—Do you feel alright? — He asked her after he calmed down a bit.

—I'm hungry

—That's the most romantic thing you've told me all night—they both laughed and hugged, only to realize that they needed to be cleaned up immediately, however, Tsukushi's legs seemed unwilling to do more than a couple of days of strike. Rui didn't care in the least to carry her naked as they were and taking her to the bathroom so she could cool off. He made her close the shower curtain and threw the protection he had used quickly.

—What would you like to eat?

—Can I ask for something a little extravagant just for today?

—Ask me whatever you want, silly girl.

—Pizza!

And that seemed extravagant? Rui had to laugh a little while getting out of the bathroom, he called a pizza place and ordered the most expensive thing there was just to please her. That was nothing for his pocket, but he liked knowing Tsukushi forgot about details like that, for her, he was like everybody else, completely normal, not a human wallet and a good catch. She fell in love with him before knowing his name.

Tsukushi appeared after a few minutes wrapped in a towel and it was Rui's to wash. When he came back into the room, he found Tsukushi sitting on the futon, wearing his shirt.

—You like it?

—I love it, but unless you want to rest your legs for the rest of the week you'd better not do it again.

—Rui!—She replied with a slight slap.

—What? I'm just telling the truth…—And he was, two minutes ago he had been satisfied and exhausted, but seeing her wearing his clothes had made him re-awake his libido. What could he say? He was a healthy boy and in love, she couldn't ask for much.

He put on his pants and went beside her on the futon resting his head on her lap, sharing the

_Ding dong_

— Food! —She exclaimed unceremoniously rising and leaving her boyfriend's head fall.

—Are you going out like that?

—I have underwear

—So what? Put something underneath.

—It will be just a second, I'm sore all over Rui, be considerate and take responsibility.

—Respon…I…you...Cover yourself! —He told her running to catch her and tickle her completely blushed. The bell rang again and they both recalled food. Rui gave up and let Tsukushi get the door while he went for the money.

—Hello! How much do…? Shigeru...

Rui immediately came to the door to watch Shigeru pale before what he saw. Tsukushi suddenly thought it would've been better to wear pants.

—How could you do something like this, Tsukushi? It hasn't even been a day since you broke the heart of Tsukasa and you go shag with someone else!

—Okawahara-san, that's enough—Rui stood before Tsukushi to protect her from the wrath of her friend.

—Shut up! You're a fucking traitor! How could you do this to your best friend!? And you call yourself his brother?

Shigeru had begun to cry from the anger she felt inside. It was not fair to her; it was not fair that they had forgotten the pain they were doing to an important person in her life.

—Tell me whatever you want, but don't you dare disturb Tsukushi. This is between her, Tsukasa and me. Third parties shouldn't meddle.

—I'm his friend!

—So am I. Don't let your feelings for Tsukasa cloud your judgment.

—My feelings?

—I'll say no more, Okawahara-san, I ask that you please leave.

—I promise that at some point I'll explain this to you, Shigeru, but not now, not like this...you should calm down. Rui is right, this is between Tsukasa, he and myself...I told you a few days ago that now I wanted to make my own decisions. I chose Rui and I'm completely sure about that.

Rui hugged her and they both held firm at the look of disbelief Shigeru, who only managed to leave completely hurt and feeling betrayed by the one she believed to be a great friend.

oº°˚˚°ºoº°˚˚°ºoº°˚˚°ºoº°˚˚°ºoº°˚˚°ºoº°˚˚°ºoº°˚˚°ºoº°˚˚°ºoº°˚˚°ºo

—Are you sure, Akira?

—_He himself said so, Soujiro. It would be go if you came because I had never seen him so bad. I'm worried. _

—This time Rui is way out of line, this is too much.

—_Soujiro, leave things as they are, we all knew that someone would end up broken in some way or another. If Makino loves Rui, let it be._

—How can you say that?

—_Because I unlike you, have not forgotten that she also suffered. Now finish to refute everything I say that what matters is Tsukasa. Come quickly. _

Soujiro heard the line cut and closed his cell furiously. He dressed, told her mother he would go out and got into his car to go to Tsukasa.

_Have the world gone crazy? This is not supposed to be like this, there is an order, there is a way in which things are meant to be..._

He really was not entirely sure why he was so angry with the whole situation, but he was. Upon arriving at a red light, he closed his eyes and sighed, unusual for him, but he felt tired with how his evening was going and the prospect of what his night would be like. He turned his head to look at the street and noticed a girl who looked familiar. Was that Yuuki?

It was, but she was not alone, a boy with his back to him was talking to her closer than he would've liked to see. Yuuki seemed to be very focused on listening to what this guy said, however, seconds later she shifted his gaze to the ground and Soujiro had to restrain inside his car at watching how a hand went to the girl's chin, forced her to lift her eyes and soon Yuuki was kissing whoever the hell was in front of her.

Soujiro cracked the gearbox, turned the car abruptly and parked as close as he could to the couple. Got out rapidly and prepared to end this once and for all.

—Hey you! Let her go!—Both parties were separated and Soujiro found two pairs of eyes, coffee and deep blue.

—Nishikado-san? —Yuuki blushed knowing that someone had seen her kissing on the street.

—It's okay, Yuuki, don't worry.

—Worry about what? What are you supposed to be doing, Nishikado? —Ryounosuke asked. Soujiro didn't miss he didn't use any honorific to mention his name.

—I'm avoiding that you do something to her.

—Something like what? Kissing her? I can assure you that this is not of your business

—You forced her, I saw you.

—Well, you must have gone blind.

—Nishikado-san, Ryou-kun didn't force anything—Yuuki said getting even redder.

—But I saw him...he...

—Really, Nishikado-san, you must have seen wrong, I appreciate that you came believing that he was doing something wrong, but I responded…the kiss…

Soujiro was angry, Yuuki was in the street, kissing another guy that wasn't him and she thought that was fine?

_Wait a second...what am I thinking?_

—Well, there you have it Nishikado. You can follow your path.

—You shut up, this doesn't concern you anymore. Yuuki, I gotta talk to you.

—Oh, well I...

—She is on a date with me, so she can't go.

—And you will answer for her, asshole? I told you that this doesn't concern you any longer so you can just go away.

—Dream on, rich kid.

It all happened in a blink of an eye, Yuuki had to witness how two guys in front of her grabbed each other and started throwing punches, and she didn't quite understand why.

—Enough! Enough! What is wrong with you two? Please, stop!

Both stopped in middle punch at hearing her pleas, they rose slowly keeping their bodies in fighting stances just in case. Both had given some good hits and had connected others. Soujiro had a split lip and Ryounosuke could feel something warm sliding from his eyebrow.

—Look at you…You better come home with me to treat that wound...Nishikado-san, I guess you have who can assist you, so I say goodbye for now.

—You tell me to go and you'll tend him!?

—First of all, lower voice— Yuuki was angry—I'm upset with both of you, but Ryounosuke and I must talk. So I'll see you another day, Nishikado-san.

Soujiro could see the smirk the dark-haired guy showed him and it twisted his gut. He had to watch both departing and couldn't say anything because he didn't become aware of what was happening until he had seen Yuuki embarrassed and blushing in front of another guy.

Nishikado Soujiro liked Matsuoka Yuuki.


End file.
